Wednesday 1^st April – Rural Cinema – The Imitation Game

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Charles Dance, Matthew Goode and Mark Strong.

BBFC: 12A

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 offence 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 2 Enigma machine. An intense and haunting portrayal of a brilliant and 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.

“It’s a familiar portrayal of the rogue genius who pushes further into the breach no matter the incomprehension and contempt of his smaller-brained contemporaries, but Cumberbatch invests himself so fully in the role that the scenes transcend their attendant clichés. His Turing is a marvel to watch, comically aloof when confronted with as mundane a task as ordering lunch, but seething with the mad intensity of a zealot whenever anything risks impeding his work, and finally heart-breaking in his inability to cope with the cruel realities of the world outside Bletchley Park.” Variety

"Tyro screenwriter Graham Moore couldn’t have made a more impressive debut. It’s a tight and wiry plot with barely an ounce of fat on its bones. There is a gripping rhythm to it, each scene a loud finger-snap which draws you back and forth between a trio of elegantly entwined narrative strands. Empire