MIT Lecture Series Committee

April 3 & 4, 2015

Rated PG-13
114 minutes

view trailer

format: 35mm

The Imitation Game (2014)

2014 Academy Award Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Actress (Keira Knightley), Best Director (Morten Tyldum), Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Original Score

During the winter of 1952, British authorities entered the home of mathematician, cryptanalyst and war hero Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) to investigate a reported burglary. They instead ended up arresting Turing himself on charges of 'gross indecency', an accusation that would lead to his devastating conviction for the criminal offense of homosexuality -- little did officials know, they were actually incriminating the pioneer of modern-day computing. Famously leading a motley group of scholars, linguists, chess champions and intelligence officers, he was credited with cracking the so-called unbreakable codes of Germany's World War II Enigma machine. An intense and haunting portrayal of a brilliant, complicated man, The Imitation Game follows a genius who under nail-biting pressure helped to shorten the war and, in turn, save thousands of lives. [www.rottentomatoes.com]

It's a film about drive, about imagination, and how brilliance thrives outside the mainstream. These are common enough themes given uncommon purchase in a film about a man who likely saved millions of lives by never fitting in.
      -- Tom Long, Detroit News. Read this review.