{"id":35092,"date":"2014-12-13T03:00:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T19:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=35092"},"modified":"2014-12-12T23:47:27","modified_gmt":"2014-12-12T15:47:27","slug":"cumberbatch-brings-code-breaker-alan-turing-to-life-with-imitation-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/12\/13\/cumberbatch-brings-code-breaker-alan-turing-to-life-with-imitation-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Cumberbatch brings code breaker Alan Turing to life with \u2018Imitation Game\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Benedict<\/a>
Benedict Cumberbatch. Gage Skidmore \/ Flickr<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO\u2014Benedict Cumberbatch doesn\u2019t take his portrayal of brilliant British mathematician Alan Turing lightly.<\/p>\n

It seems truly important to the actor that his representation of the man in the gripping drama \u201cThe Imitation Game\u201d enlighten audiences about the pivotal role Turing had in hastening the end of the Second World War.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn comparison to his achievements and how important he is to all of us, and what he achieved in his life, I think he\u2019s relatively unknown,\u201d Cumberbatch said of Turing during an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re doing a good thing by telling this story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turing, now considered the father of the modern-day computer, was critical in breaking the Nazi code during the conflict, but many of his achievements were kept under wraps for years.<\/p>\n

The highly intelligent but socially awkward man was prosecuted for homosexuality after the war and is believed to have killed himself after enduring two years of court-ordered chemical castration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s an extraordinary story,\u201d Cumberbatch said. \u201cThe reaction people have\u2014\u2019I can\u2019t believe I didn\u2019t know that\u2019\u2014sort of speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part thrilling biopic, part commentary on societal prejudices, the film directed by Norwegian filmmaker Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, follows Turing and a group of colleagues as they race, in secret, to break the baffling German Enigma code.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge element of heroics\u2014quiet, subtle, beautiful heroics in what those men and women did in the southeast of England to save an estimated 14 million lives by bringing World War II to an early conclusion,\u201d Cumberbatch said of the real-life events which are brought to the big screen.<\/p>\n

Those achievements, particularly Turing\u2019s, only came under the spotlight in recent times, however, with Turing granted a posthumous royal pardon last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe turned everything in his life to our advantage as well as his advantage,\u201d Cumberbatch said. \u201cHe never lay down, continued to fight, continued to battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

To prepare for his role, Cumberbatch spoke to people who had known Turing and discovered that the often misunderstood man was a complex but compassionate individual.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn particular what I remember from my research was a technician who told me he was a lovely man to work for,\u201d Cumberbatch recalled. \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t make eye contact all the time, but when he did you felt completely held in his gaze. He was very humble, humorous and good company, generous and engaged in listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turing was also a man who suffered greatly, however, and Cumberbatch\u2019s knowledge of that angst, gleaned through his research, was what he tapped into for his performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was clear to me that his story was unique even though there were thousands of men who were persecuted in the same era for their homosexuality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I drew on was everything that happened to him in his life. He was probably far less dramatic, far more humble than what I acted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turing\u2019s story, and a desire to tell it widely, was also what drew Keira Knightley to the film, in which she plays Joan Clarke, Turing\u2019s fellow code-breaker and one-time fiancee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of struck, in all ways, about how relevant the story still is now. Even though it\u2019s such a particular story of that time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question of prejudice with Alan and how, when prejudice affects government policy, the kind of tragedy that can cause and the brain drain that can happen. I think it\u2019s constantly a conversation that has to be had.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film also manages to get at that discussion in \u201ca very human and emotional way,\u201d noted Knightley, which helps audiences connect with the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019re always trying to convey is the essence of the story that first struck you. And I was first struck by Alan Turing\u2019s story not from the script but from articles about it and I felt like, and I still feel like, this script really got to the essence of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lending authenticity to the drama on screen was the real-life connections that developed between cast members on the set of the film, said Matthew Goode, who plays another one of Turing\u2019s colleagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to find our relationships quite quickly and then in some way we provided quite a safe environment for Benedict to try a lot of his stuff out,\u201d Goode said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Imitation Game\u201d opens in Toronto on Friday and in cities across Canada later in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO\u2014Benedict Cumberbatch doesn\u2019t take his portrayal of brilliant British mathematician Alan Turing lightly. It seems truly important to the actor …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":35093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hollywood","mauthors-diana-mehta","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}