Kevin Lloyd

Alan Turing, the enigma codebreaker, was a conflicted, tortured soul who had to suppress his own sexuality to survive, in a hypocritically, narrow-minded, morally judgemental world. He was a loner, an outsider, a social misfit in society. He was unable to express his inner feelings, to trust others around him. He was as victim of social injustice of the times. The unravelling of his life, his personal struggle was characterised with an innate sense of not being normal, of keeping secrets, not having a sense of belonging, seemed a fitting parallel to the conflict of war itself.

The measured, slow paced movement of the film is firstly accepted to support the implied promised journey. We become morally invested in the film in the belief that the human spirit will undergo a transformation to redemption. In its place, we are taken in a different direction. It becomes clear we have been dealt a pretentious sleight of hand, given a deceitful immitation, a tortuous misrepresentation, a misguided grab for spiritual enlightenment. Rather than being given a meaningful discovery, a seed of decency, a message of renewal. The film masquerades as a deep and meaningful exploration into the soul of humanity. It adopts a spiritual mythology to authenticate and elevate the film to an assumed status, that it never attains by a long way.

West Side Story- The Wrong Side Of The Tracks It is within the presence of fear and anger, that prejudice is firstly bred, allowed to flourish, to raise its ugly head. For rising fear is about a sense of loss, a feeling of uncertainty, an impending change. Whilst anger remains simmering beneath the surface, its intensity building, waiting yet unlit, preparing to ignite and turn into rage. West Side Story comes to life as a vibrant, high energy, contemporary story of forbidden love. Its strength is it's extroverted nature, its inextricable links to a staged production. It is an unapologetic, deliberate, in your face, loud and brash musical. It brings a bold expression of the underclass in society, struggling adolescents, with a powerful desire to display their need for recognition, to establish an identity of their own choosing, to reflect a sense of self worth, to gain acceptance, to belong. It is a film with its impressive, unchallenged, street singing and dancing, keeps you in awe and wanting more. vibrant vibrant v