#imitationgame

I’ve never really used my Tumblr to create “blog” posts, in which I really talk about something like a movie or book, but today I’ve watched the Imitation Game and I really need to get some thoughts off my chest.

If you haven’t watched the movie, please do it. Or if you haven’t heard about Alan Turing. Before the movie, I haven’t heard about him. Like anything. I didn’t know a thing about this amazing story - amazing as “inspiring, impressive, touching”. It wasn’t amazing as in the actual meaning, because I fucking bawled my eyes out in the end.

*Spoiler alert*:

I think the ending was really good. I mean - it was very good writing. Because what happened to homosexuals back in the days is horrible. So horrible. It’s not even that far away from 2020 - I mean, of course, 70 years is kind of a lot, but not compared to medieval times, the renaissance, the dinosaur times - what I’m trying to say is that it might spread even more awareness of how bad the situation was only 70 yrs ago. And you know, Alan’s life ended just like that. Without a goodbye. Without a happy ending. So why would you give the movie a happy ending, only so the fans are pleased? It would be wrong. This is the depiction of reality. Without any glimpse of a happy ending. We don’t even get a short sequence, like in “Me before you”, where there’s a sort of positive letter - no. And it’s how it should be. A cold ending. A sad ending. It hurts a lot when I think about it, about the way Alan was shaking when Joan visited him, about how broken he was inside. And for what? His sexual orientation? Dear God. That’s so wrong, so unfair, I can’t put into words how much the imagination of such circumstances hurt, how it shouldn’t have been that way. And I believe that - even though it’s gotten a lot better - there’s uncountable cases like that one nowadays. In the country we live in there might be no law against homosexuality, but hate and discrimination is everywhere. Please don’t discriminate. That’s all I can say, because I don’t have the ability to travel into people’s ability and destroy their prejudices.

*Spoiler alert end*

And, last but not least: I am so positively overwhelmed by Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance in the movie. I’ve watched him in “Sherlock”, “Patrick Melrose” and “Dr. Strange”, and I can just say that by every performance I’m getting more fond of him. So talented. Especially because each of those characters is so unique, and has a very extraordinary way of moving their body, of twitching their eyebrow and just EVERYthing.

This movie wasn’t “entertaining” for me, it was a life lesson. A history lesson. A psychology and philosophy lesson, kind of.

Please seriously watch this movie. It’s powerful.

Observer

‘Today, we call them computers.’

The Greatest Fictional Versions of Alan Turing

Take a moment away from your computer screen, and give some props to Alan Turing, the code-breaking badass who helped make all this possible. Turing has captured our imagination several times, in books and movies. Here's our potted history of the Father of Computer Science in pop culture. Read more…

I have a number of movies that do that for me.

1. Mr magoriums wonder emporium

The entirety of this script is just magical. From the king leer speech to the simple lines of each character the whole script is riddled with magical moments practically in every interaction. I swear nearly every line given to Mr. Magorium is tattoo quote worthy. (This is actually a thing I've noticed and even plan to get one tattooed myself) I would love to sit down and interview the screen write to see their process of how they built the character because its just perfect. [I have no idea if this film was based off a boom or not and haven't seen anything to suggest it was in anything I've seen about it so please point it out ir correct me if there is a book!)

2. The opening scene of The Imitation Game

The writing for this scene gives my literal chills every single time I watch the film. And its not just cause bennedict cumberbatch is reading it. I swear the writing is powerful enough that the worst voice actor could read it and it would still affect you. And while I know there are a lot if books and biographies about turing's life i garuntee the writing from the opening scene is not anywhere close to what he actually said in interrogation.

As a writer who tries to grab their audience's attention in the first few paragraphs i feel nothing I could come up with even gets close to the level this one scene reaches.

3. The rattle the stars speech from treasure planet

The thing about this scene for me is its the first time the character of silver is genuine and the first time Jim hears that he can do anything without someone following it up immediately with how big if a disappointment he is. And while you're invested in both characters at the point it arrives in the film the writing of it alone is phenomenal. Because I feel that if you read the speech on its own without really knowing the background the words themselves will speak to everyone on some level because it tells you you can do anything you just have to be your own star and light your own fire. Because no one told the sun it could shine, it did that itself.

And while the film itself is loosely based off the treasure island book (which is a great book in an of itself) the speech is NOT from the books so someone on the writing team had to give birth to this amazing brain child.