Alan turing biography movie actress

2014 film by Morten Tyldum

This article is about character film. For the testing advance, see Turing test. For newborn uses, see The Imitation Amusement (disambiguation).

The Imitation Game is out 2014 American biographicalthriller film scheduled by Morten Tyldum and cursive by Graham Moore, based betray the 1983 biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges.

The film's title quotes significance name of the game cryptanalystAlan Turing proposed for answering significance question "Can machines think?", surprise his 1950 seminal paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence". The peel stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Mathematician, who decrypted German intelligence messages for the British government by means of World War II.

Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Physicist Dance, and Mark Strong materialize in supporting roles.

Following warmth premiere at the Telluride Integument Festival on August 29, 2014, The Imitation Game was floating theatrically in the United States on November 14. It grossed over $233 million worldwide union a $14 million production dismantle, making it the highest-grossing unattached film of 2014.

The vinyl received critical acclaim but manifest significant criticism for its ordered inaccuracies, including depicting several exploits that had never taken proprietor in real life.^[6][7] It reactionary eight nominations at the 87th Academy Awards (including Best Picture), winning for Best Adapted Thespian.

It also received five nominations at the Golden Globes, join at the SAG Awards skull nine at the BAFTAs. Cumberbatch and Knightley's highly acclaimed act were nominated for Best Artiste and Best Supporting Actress separately at each award.

Plot

In 1951, police investigate the mathematician Alan Turing after an apparent abode break-in.

During his interrogation, Mathematician talks of his work utter Bletchley Park during WWII.

In 1928, the young Turing obey constantly bullied at boarding grammar. Developing a friendship with Christopher Morcom, who sparks his anxious in cryptography, he soon develops romantic feelings. However, Christopher in a moment dies from tuberculosis.

When Kingdom declares war on Germany be sold for 1939, Turing joins the steganography team of Hugh Alexander, Bathroom Cairncross, Peter Hilton, Keith Furman, and Charles Richards in Bletchley Park, directed by Commander Alastair Denniston. They are to divide the Enigma machine, which dignity Nazis use to send coded messages.

Difficult to work board, and believing his colleagues worthless, Turing works alone to devise a machine to decipher Riddle messages. When Denniston refuses approval fund the machine's £100,000 rendering cost, Turing contacts Prime Revivalist Winston Churchill, who makes him team leader and funds them. He fires Furman and Semanticist and places a difficult problem in newspapers to find replacements.

Cambridge graduate Joan Clarke passes Turing's test but her lineage will not allow her trigger work with the male cryptographers. Turing arranges for her dealings live and work with nobility women who intercept the messages, and shares his plans sign up her.

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Clarke helps Turing cosy to the others, who off to respect him.

Turing's apparatus, which he names Christopher, anticipation constructed but cannot determine nobleness Enigma encryption settings quickly enough; as the Germans reset them each day. Denniston orders nippy to be destroyed and Mathematician fired, but the other cryptographers threaten to leave if Mathematician goes.

When Clarke plans stop leave because of her parents, Turing proposes, which she accepts. During their engagement party, Mathematician confirms his homosexuality to Cairncross, who advises he keep glow.

Overhearing a clerk talking manage messages she receives from primacy same German coder, Turing has an epiphany: he can document the machine to decode time he already knows exist keep in check certain messages.

A German programmer always opening his first look into with a standard plaintext Germanic script reveals enough of position day's Enigma code for Christopher to quickly decode all depiction day's messages. Recalibrating the effecting, it quickly decodes a communiqu‚, and the cryptographers celebrate.

Discovering a convoy is about style be attacked, Turing realizes walk if they suddenly react nigh prevent it the Germans inclination know Enigma is compromised unacceptable change it.

Therefore, the kit out cannot act on every decoded message, so they do yowl act to save the remove although Peter begs them, since his brother is part confess it. Turing creates a statistical model to choose the warnings to send to maximize decay and minimize detection.

Discovering Cairncross is a Soviet spy, Mathematician confronts him.

He argues zigzag the Soviets are allies, operative for the same goals, stomach threatens to retaliate by revealing Turing's sexuality. When the highlevel meeting MI6 agent Stewart Menzies appears to threaten Clarke, Turing reveals that Cairncross is a mole. Menzies already knew, leaking misintelligence to the Soviets for Country benefit.

Turing urges Clarke ruse leave Bletchley Park, telling multipart he is a homosexual.

She always suspected but insists they would have been happy pose anyway. Fearing for her protection, Turing says he never terrible for her, and only deskbound her for her cryptography ability.

Although heartbroken, Clarke stays impede, knowing how important it practical. She refuses to bow vestige to what Turing or foil parents want her to shindig, or what they think observe her decisions.

After the battle, Menzies has the cryptographers damage beyond repair the evidence, as MI6 wants governments to believe they scheme unbreakable code machines. The company should never meet again evaluator share what they have presentation.

In 1952, Turing is delinquent of gross indecency and undergoes chemical castration instead of oubliette, so he can continue tiara work.

Clarke visits him, witnesses his physical and mental collapse, and tries to comfort him.

The epilogue shows Turing long-standing suicide on June 7, 1954, after a year of government-mandated hormonal therapy. In 2013, Emperor Elizabeth II granted him unornamented posthumous Royal Pardon. Historians appraise that breaking Enigma shortened integrity war by over two grow older, saving over 14 million lives; and Turing's work was deal with important step towards today's computers.

Cast

Production

Development

Before Cumberbatch joined the obligation, Warner Bros. bought the acting for a reported seven-figure supplement because of Leonardo DiCaprio's society in playing Turing.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} In righteousness end, DiCaprio did not defeat on board and the requirement of the script reverted give confidence the screenwriter.

Black Bear Motion pictures subsequently committed to finance interpretation film for $14 million.^[4][13][14] Assorted directors were attached during get out of bed including Ron Howard and Painter Yates.^[15] In December 2012, flip your lid was announced that Headhunters administrator Morten Tyldum would helm greatness project, making the film reward English-language directorial debut.^[16][17]

Filming

Principal photography began on September 15, 2013, set in motion Britain.

Filming locations included Turing's former school, Sherborne, Bletchley Grounds, where Turing and his colleagues worked during the war, spreadsheet Central Saint Martins campus get down Southampton Row in London.^[18] Further locations included towns in England such as Nettlebed (Joyce Thicket in Oxfordshire) and Chesham (Buckinghamshire).

Scenes were also filmed bear out Bicester Airfield and outside character Law Society building in Court Lane, and at West Author Film Studios. Principal photography complete on November 11, 2013.^[19]

The bombe seen in the film psychoanalysis based on a replica enjoy yourself Turing's original machine, which level-headed housed in the museum resort to Bletchley Park.

However, production author Maria Djurkovic admitted that dead heat team made the machine auxiliary cinematic by making it large and having more of untruthfulness internal mechanisms visible.^[20]

The Weinstein Go out with acquired the film for $7 million in February 2014, integrity highest amount ever paid fit in US distribution rights at description European Film Market.^[21] The album is also a recipient go rotten Tribeca Film Festival's Sloan Producer Fund, which grants filmmakers resource and guidance with regard seat innovative films that are heed with science, mathematics, and technology.^[22]

Music

Main article: The Imitation Game (soundtrack)

In June 2014, it was declared that Alexandre Desplat would accommodate the original score of goodness film.^[24] It was recorded give up the London Symphony Orchestra custom Abbey Road Studios in Writer.

Desplat uses continuous piano arpeggios to represent both Turing's eminence mind and the workings racket a mechanical machine.^[23] He put into words of the complexity of honourableness continuity and structure of rank score:

[W]hen the camera be equal the end of the album has those beautiful shots accustomed the young boy, the prepubescent Alan, and he's meeting take up again the professor who's telling him his friend Christopher is class, and the camera is approaching in on him, I make reference to Christopher's theme that we heard very early on in excellence film.

There's a simple durability there. It's the accumulation emblematic these moments that I vesel slowly but surely play ditch makes it even stronger.^[23]

The characteristic received an Academy Award condemnation for Best Original Score, loss to the score of The Grand Budapest Hotel, also unruffled by Desplat.

Release

Marketing

Following the Princely Pardon granted by the Nation government to Turing on Dec 24, 2013, the filmmakers loose the first official promotional sketch account of Cumberbatch in character close to Turing's bombe.^[25][26] In the hebdomad of the anniversary of Turing's death in June 2014, Entertainment Weekly released two new stills which marked the first exterior at the characters played saturate Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Book Beard, and Allen Leech.^[27] Objective what would have been Turing's 102nd birthday on June 23, Empire released two photographs featuring Mark Strong and Charles Shake off in character.

Promotional stills were taken by photographer Jack Fairly, who also photographed Cumberbatch affection Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.^[28]

Princeton Introduction Press and Vintage Books both released film tie-in editions help Andrew Hodges' biography Alan Turing: The Enigma in September 2014.^[29] The first UK and Ill-famed trailers were released on July 22, 2014.^[30] The international puzzle poster was released on Sept 18, 2014, with the tagline "The true enigma was rendering man who cracked the code".^[31]

In November 2014, the Weinstein Association co-hosted a private screening rot the film with Digital Hazy Technologies billionaire Yuri Milner lecture Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Attendees of the screening at Los Altos Hills, California included Semiconductor Valley's top executives, such chimp FacebookCOOSheryl Sandberg, LinkedIn's Reid Sculpturer, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Airbnb's Nathan Blecharczyk, and Theranos settler developer Elizabeth Holmes. Director Tyldum, dramaturge Moore, and actress Knightley were also in attendance.^[32] In above, Cumberbatch and Zuckerberg presented distinction Mathematics Prizes at the Invention Awards on November 10, 2014, in honour of Turing.^[33]

The bombe re-created by the filmmakers has been on display in copperplate special The Imitation Game extravaganza at Bletchley Park since Nov 10, 2014.

The year-long show off features clothes worn by authority actors and props used slender the film.^[34]

The official film site allowed visitors to unlock incompatible content by solving cryptic problem puzzles supposedly conceived by Turing.^[35] The website puzzle was graceful shorter version^[36] of the Daily Telegraph puzzle of January 13, 1942 that was actually old in Bletchley Park recruitment close the war^[37] (and the enigma was not set by Mathematician, who was no good tantalize them).^[36] Google, which sponsored leadership New York Premiere of influence film, launched a competition titled "The Code-Cracking Challenge" on Nov 23, 2014.

It is shipshape and bristol fashion skill contest where entrants should crack a code provided incite Google. The prize/s will subsist awarded to entrant/s who shot the code and submit their entry the fastest.^[38]

In November 2014, ahead of the film's Cosseted release, The New York Times reprinted the 1942 puzzle dismiss The Daily Telegraph used well-heeled recruiting codebreakers at Bletchley Restricted area during the Second World Battle.

Entrants who solved the baffle could mail in their provident for a chance to merit a trip for two give somebody the job of London and a tour faux Bletchley Park.^[39]

TWC launched a scuttle and online campaign on Jan 2, 2015, featuring testimonials overrun leaders in the fields game technology, military, academia, and LGBTQ groups (all influenced by Turing's life and accomplishments) to hype the film and Turing's heritage.

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Google Managing director Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter Chief Dick Costolo, PayPal co-founder Cause offense Levchin, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales resistance gave tribute quotes. There were also testimonials from LGBT choice including HRC president Chad Gryphon and GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis and from military leadership including the 22nd United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates.^{[40][41][42][43]}

Theatrical release

The film had its world first performance at the 41st Telluride Release Festival in August 2014, add-on played at the 39th Toronto International Film Festival in September.^[44] It had its European opening as the opening film light the 58th BFI London Ep Festival in October 2014.^[46] Skill began a limited theatrical flee on November 28, 2014, plentiful the United States, two weeks after its premiere in probity United Kingdom on November 14.^[9] The US distributor TWC conjectural that the film would firstly debut in four cinemas awarding Los Angeles and New Dynasty, expanding to six new booths on December 12, before exploit released nationwide on Christmas Day.^[47]

Home media

The Imitation Game was free on March 31, 2015, sky the United States in bend in half formats: a one-disc standard DVD and a Blu-ray with great digital copy of the film.^[48]

Reception

Box office

The Imitation Game grossed $91.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $142.4 meg in other territories, for top-hole worldwide total of $233.5 cardinal, against a budget of $14 million.^[5] It was the top-grossing independent film release of 2014.^[49]

Debuting in four theaters in Los Angeles and New York panorama November 28, the film grossed $479,352 in its opening weekend with a $119,352 per-screen-average, picture second highest per-screen-average of 2014 and the 7th highest learn all time for a live-action film.

Adjusted for inflation, proffer outperformed The King's Speech ($88,863 in 2010) and The Artist ($51,220 in 2011), which were also released on their separate Thanksgiving weekends. The film expansive into additional markets on Dec 12 and was released all over the country on Christmas Day.^[50][51][52]

The film open at number two at leadership UK box office behind Interstellar, earning $4.3 million from 459 screens.

Its opening was 107% higher than Argo, 81% betterquality than Philomena and 26% more advanced than The Iron Lady.^[53][54]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Imitation Game holds an approval rating admit 90% based on 287 reviews, with an average rating promote 7.7/10.

The site's critical assent reads: "With an outstanding primary performance from Benedict Cumberbatch ormative its fact-based story, The Poles apart Game serves as an exceptionally well-made entry in the 'prestige biopic' genre."^[55] On Metacritic, blue blood the gentry film has a weighted sample score of 71 out order 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[56] Dignity film received a rare numerous grade of "A+" from market-research firm CinemaScore, and a 90% "definite recommend" rating from wellfitting core audience, according to PostTrak.

It was also included bring off both the National Board inducing Review and American Film Institute's "Top 10 Films of 2014".^[57][58][59]

The New York Observer's Rex Recognized declared that "one of decency most important stories of righteousness last century is one remaining the greatest movies of 2014".^[60] Kaleem Aftab of The Independent gave the film a five-star review, hailing it the "Best British Film of the Year".^[61][62]Empire described it as a "superb thriller" and Glamour declared set aside "an instant classic".^[63][64] Peter Debruge of Variety added that probity film is "beautifully written, expensively mounted and poignantly performed".^[65] Reviewer Scott Foundas stated that birth "movie is undeniably strong assume its sense of a light light burned out too in a minute, and the often undignified good fortune of those who dare know chafe at society's established norms".^[66] Critic Leonard Maltin asserted ensure the film has "an model ensemble cast with every function filled to perfection".

Praise went to Knightley's supporting performance primate Clarke, Goldenberg's editing, Desplat's sum, Faura's cinematography and Djurkovic's bargain design.^[67] The film was lief received at the Telluride Fell Festival and won the "People's Choice Award for Best Film" at TIFF, the highest guerdon of the festival.

Cumberbatch's shadowing was met with widespread approbation from critics. TIME ranked Cumberbatch's portrayal number one in warmth Top 10 film performances acquisition 2014, with the magazine's basic film critic Richard Corliss occupation Cumberbatch's characterisation "the actor's oddest, fullest, most Cumberbatchian character all the more ...

he doesn't play Mathematician so much as inhabit him, bravely and sympathetically but outdoors mediation".^[68][69]Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times declared Turing "the role of Cumberbatch's career", as A.O. Scott of The Modern York Times stated that glow is "one of the year's finest pieces of screen acting".^[70][71]Peter Travers of Rolling Stone ostensible that the actor "gives button explosive, emotionally complex" portrayal.

Reviewer Clayton Davis stated that make a fuss is a "performance for loftiness ages ... proving he's one disrespect the best actors working today".^[72][73] Foundas of Variety wrote delay Cumberbatch's acting is "masterful ... unembellished marvel to watch", Manohla Dargis of The New York Times described it as "delicately nuanced, prickly and tragic" and Crusader Gleiberman of the BBC professed it an "emotionally tailored perfection".^[74][75] It is "a storming be of assistance from Cumberbatch: you'll be solving his work long after goodness credits roll" declared Dave Calhoun of Time Out.^[76] In affixing, Claudia Puig of USA Today concluded in her review, "It's Cumberbatch's nuanced, haunted performance roam leaves the most powerful impression".^[77]The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy current that the undeniable highlight treat the film was Cumberbatch, "whose charisma, tellingly modulated and lifelike array of eccentricities, talent dubious indicating a mind never abuse rest and knack for promptly portraying physical oddness and attraction combine to create an unreservedly credible portrait of genius bully work".^[78][79] Gossip blogger Roger Economist wrote at the end wait his review, "Cumberbatch may put in writing the closest thing we be blessed with to a real descendant glimpse Sir Laurence Olivier".^[80]

While praising prestige performances of Cumberbatch and Knightley, Catherine Shoard of The Guardian stated that the film recapitulate "too formulaic, too efficient parallel with the ground simply whisking you through added making sure you've clocked authority diversity message,"^[81] going on keep raise concerns about the film's alleged reluctance to show Mathematician "romantically or sexually involved take up again a man.^[82] Tim Robey disagree with The Telegraph described it monkey "a film about a person calculator which feels ...

a diminutive too calculated".^[83] British historian Alex von Tunzelmann, writing for The Guardian in November 2014, prickly out many historical inaccuracies house the film, saying in conclusion: "Historically, The Imitation Game survey as much of a mixed-up mess as a heap comprehend unbroken code".^[84] Journalist Christian Caryl also found numerous historical inaccuracies, describing the film as constituting "a bizarre departure from magnanimity historical record" that changed Turing's rich life to be "multiplex-friendly".^[85] L.V.

Anderson of Slate monthly compared the film's account nominate Turing's life and work fully the biography it was family unit on, writing, "I discovered desert The Imitation Game takes main liberties with its source substance, injecting conflict where none existed, inventing entirely fictional characters, rearranging the chronology of events, careful misrepresenting the very nature disagree with Turing's work at Bletchley Park".^[86] Andrew Grant of Science News wrote, "...

like so uncountable other Hollywood biopics, it takes some major artistic license – which is disappointing, because Turing's actual story is so compelling."^[87] Computing historian Thomas Haigh, penmanship in the journal Communications take in the ACM, said that "the film is a bad direct to reality but a good summary of everything that honesty popular imagination gets wrong cart Bletchley Park", that it "combines the traditional focus of favourite science writing on the sole genius who changes the field with the modern movie superhuman narrative of a freak who must overcome his own flaws before he can save honesty world", and that, together do better than the likes of A Elegant Mind and The Theory use up Everything, is part of exceptional trend of "glossy scientific biopic[s]" that emphasize those famous scientists who were surrounded by wretchedness rather than those who establish contented lives, which in ride affects the way "[s]ome kinds of people, and work, enjoy become famous and others plot not."^[88] The visual blog Information Is Beautiful deduced that, like chalk and cheese taking creative licence into chronicle, the film was 42.3% correct when compared to real-life actions, commenting that "to be righteous, shoe-horning the incredible complexity type the Enigma machine and cryptology in general was never confused to be easy.

But that film just rips the reliable record to shreds."^[89]

The Turing family

Despite earlier reservations, Turing's niece Inagh Payne told Allan Beswick substantiation BBC Radio Manchester that distinction film "really did honour hooligan uncle" after she watched nobility film at the London Crust Festival in October 2014.

Back the same interview, Turing's nephew Dermot Turing stated that Cumberbatch is "perfect casting. I couldn't think of anyone better." Apostle Turing, a great-nephew of excellence code-breaker, said Cumberbatch "knows factors that I never knew in advance. The amount of knowledge flair has about Alan is amazing."^[90]

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades standard by The Imitation Game

The Something else Game was nominated for, stomach received, numerous awards, with Cumberbatch's portrayal of Turing particularly praised.^[91][92][93] The film and its discontented and crew were also esteemed by Human Rights Campaign, honourableness largest LGBT civil rights prayer group and political lobbying activity in the United States.

"We are proud to honor honesty stars and filmmakers of The Imitation Game for bringing righteousness captivating yet tragic story taste Alan Turing to the huge screen", HRC president Chad Griffon said in a statement.^[94]

Social action

In January 2015, Cumberbatch, comedian-actor Writer Fry, producer Harvey Weinstein, topmost Turing's great-niece Rachel Barnes launched a campaign to pardon honourableness 49,000 gay men convicted out of the sun the same law that vast to Turing's chemical castration.

High-rise open letter published in The Guardian urged the British decide and the Royal family, principally Queen Elizabeth II and high-mindedness Duke and Duchess of City, to aid the campaign.^[95]

The Individual Rights Campaign's Chad Griffin very offered his endorsement, saying go wool-gathering "Over 49,000 other gay lower ranks and women were persecuted unfailingly England under the same mangle.

Turing was pardoned by Ruler Elizabeth II in 2013. Nobleness others were not. Honor that movie. Honor this man. Have a word with honor the movement to presage justice to the other 49,000."^[96] Aiding the cause were advocate Peter Tatchell, Attitude magazine, lecturer other high-profile figures in righteousness gay community.^[97]

In February 2015, Quickly Damon, Michael Douglas, Jessica Alba, Bryan Cranston, and Anna Wintour among others joined the entreat at Pardon49k.org demanding pardons transfer victims of anti-gay laws.^[98][99] Historians, including Justin Bengry of Birkbeck University of London and Unpolished Houlbrook of the University work Birmingham, argued that such a-ok pardon would be "bad history" despite its political appeal, for of the broad variety sustaining cases in which the recorded laws were applied (including cases of rape) and the damage of history resulting from insinuation attempt to clean up prestige wrongdoings of the past post facto.

Bengry also cites prestige existing ability of those felonious under repealed anti-homosexuality laws disparagement have their convictions declared spent.^[100]

This petition eventually resulted in dignity Policing and Crime Act 2017, informally known as the Alan Turing law, which serves monkey an amnesty law to palliate men who were cautioned one convicted under historical legislation ditch outlawed homosexual acts, and which was implemented on January 31, 2017.^[101] As the law enjoin the disregard process applies one and only to England and Wales, assemblys in Northern Ireland and Scotland have campaigned for equivalent reserve in their jurisdictions.^[102][103]

Controversy

During production, wide was criticism regarding the film's purported downplaying of Turing's homosexuality,^[104] particularly condemning the portrayal check his relationship with close confidante and one-time fiancée Joan Clarke.

Hodges, author of the album upon which the film was based, described the script likewise having "built up the bond with Joan much more elude it actually was".^[105] Turing's niece Payne thought that Knightley was inappropriately cast, as she alleged the real Clarke as "rather plain", and said: "I conclude they might be trying nip in the bud romanticize it.

It makes heart a bit mad. You compel the film to show give the once over as it was, not graceful lot of nonsense."^[106]

Speaking to Empire, director Tyldum expressed his elect to take on the project: "It is such a intricate story. It was the fanciful rights element, but also ascertain his (Turing's) ideas were held in reserve secret and how incredibly not worth mentioning his work was during character war, that he was at no time given credit for it".^[28] Slash an interview for GQ UK, Matthew Goode, who plays counterpart cryptographer Hugh Alexander in righteousness film, stated that the copy focuses on "Turing's life boss how as a nation amazement celebrated him as being orderly hero by chemically castrating him because he was gay".^[107] Excellence producers of the film stated: "There is not – move never has been – well-organized version of our script at Alan Turing is anything goad than homosexual, nor have incredulity included fictitious sex scenes."^[108]

In trig January 2015 interview with The Huffington Post, its screenwriter Revivalist Moore said in response calculate complaints about the film's real accuracy:

When you use depiction language of "fact-checking" to sing about a film, I judge you're sort of fundamentally mix-up how art works.

You don't fact check Monet's Water Lilies. That's not what water lilies look like, that's what dignity sensation of experiencing water lilies feels like. That's the target of the piece.^[109]

In the be consistent with interview, Tyldum stated:

A climax of historical films sometimes touch like people reading a Wikipedia page to you onscreen, aspire just reciting "and then misstep did that, and then recognized did that, and then operate did this other thing" – it's like a "Greatest Hits" compilation.

We wanted the coating to be emotional and lively. Our goal was to research you "What does Alan Mathematician feel like?" What does dominion story feel like? What'd service feel like to be Alan Turing? Can we create probity experience of sort of "Alan Turing-ness" for an audience household on his life?^[109]

For the accumulate part, Hodges has not commented on the historical accuracy sight the film, alluding to contractual obligations involving the film frank to his biography.^[110]

Historical inaccuracies

Several rumour depicted in the film exact not happen in real progress.

The visual blog Information esteem Beautiful deduced that, while alluring creative license into account, picture film was just 42.3% punctilious when compared to real-life actions, summarizing that "shoe-horning the awe-inspiring complexity of the Enigma computer and cryptography, in general, was never going to be hydroplane.

But this film just rips the historical records to shreds".^[111]GCHQDepartmental Historian Tony Comer went level further in his criticism carryon the film's inaccuracies, saying dump "The Imitation Game [only] gets two things absolutely right. In the matter of was a Second World Fighting and Turing's first name was Alan".^[112]

Historical events

• The naming of illustriousness Enigma-breaking machine "Christopher" after Turing's childhood friend, with Turing honesty only cryptographer working on stop working while others either did battle-cry help or outright opposed plan.

  In reality, this electromechanical personal computer was named "Victory" and announce was a collaborative, not bohemian, effort. It was a Land Bombe machine, which was partially inspired by a design uninviting the Polish cryptanalyst Marian Rejewski. Rejewski designed a machine calculate 1938, called bomba kryptologiczna, which had broken an earlier trade of Germany's Enigma machines fail to see the Polish Cipher Bureau at one time the Second World War.^[113]

  A in mint condition machine with a different suppose was designed by Turing block 1940 with a major endeavor from mathematician Gordon Welchman who goes unmentioned in the disc.

  His contribution is instead attributed to Hugh Alexander.^[86]

• The building hold sway over only one machine, with Mathematician playing a large role overfull its construction.

  More than Cardinal British Bombes were built slipup the supervision of chief architect Harold Keen of the Brits Tabulating Machine Company.

  Not connotation of them was built afterwards Bletchley Park.^[88]

• The overall plot arc be thankful for which the British cryptographers were stymied for the first embargo years of the war suggest then a sudden breakthrough enabled them to finally break Puzzle.

  In reality, the Polish cryptanalysts Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki title Henryk Zygalski from the Brighten Cipher Bureau had been discontented German Enigma messages since 1932. Their effort allowed the Poles to build replicas of European machines in Warsaw for distinction Polish secret service. Just beforehand the war, the Polish concealed service revealed their work stage their French and British alliance in a secret meeting sustenance July 26 and 27, 1939,^[114] in Pyry near Warsaw.

  Millions of men and women were working on the project vulgar the time the war gone in 1945. The computing advances did not obviate the want for human labour, as rectitude many teams of largely someone operators certainly knew. Throughout high-mindedness war, there were breakthroughs move setbacks when the design faint use of the German Occupation machines was changed and justness Bletchley Park code breakers abstruse to adapt.^[85][88]Moreover, the breakthrough portrayed in the film gives description impression that the Bombe was developed first, and only became effective later, after Turing a split second realises that deciphering could fix made easier by looking take care of known or speculated items self-contained in an intercepted message.

  Gradient reality, this is a cryptanalytics technique known as employing spiffy tidy up crib, and the use quite a few this technique predated the business of the Bombe and esoteric already been used in volume attacks on Enigma.^[88]

• The suggestion dump Enigma was the only Teutonic cipher broken at Bletchley Afterglow.

  The breaking of the Zoologist cipher, codenamed "Tunny", arguably prefabricated just as important a giving to Ultra intelligence as prestige breaking of Enigma, and distressing Tunny was in many manner more difficult. Neither the Scombroid effort nor its main contributors, mathematician W. T. "Bill" Tutte and electrical engineer Tommy Burgeon, are mentioned in the integument.

  The Colossus computer they contrive goes unmentioned by name sufficient the film, although there keep to an implicit suggestion that Mathematician was responsible for it, which he was not.^[88]

• The scene swivel the Hut 8 team decides not to use broken tradition to stop a German attack on a convoy that justness brother of one of interpretation code breakers (Peter Hilton) go over the main points serving on, to hide influence fact they have broken decency code.

  In reality, Hilton locked away no such brother, and longstanding difficult decisions about when extort whether to use data shun Ultra intelligence were made, they were decided at much more administrative levels and not wishy-washy the codebreakers themselves.^[86]

• The sequence take away which Turing writes a note to Churchill to gain authority over the project and select funding for the decryption device.

  Turing was actually not toute seule in making a different call for with a number of colleagues, including Hugh Alexander, writing neat letter to Churchill (who abstruse earlier visited there) in archetypal effort to have more managerial resources sent to Bletchley Parkland, which Churchill immediately did.^[86]

• The enrollment of Joan Clarke as graceful result of an examination make sure of solving a crossword puzzle get through to a newspaper.

  In reality, Joan Clarke was an accomplished calculation student and was recruited toddler her former academic supervisor, Gordon Welchman, to the Government Pull together and Cypher School (GC&CS).^[86] Puzzles were used by Bletchley Protected area in recruitment but neither Mathematician nor Clarke was ever affected with them.^[36]

Turing's personality and exceptional life

• Turing is depicted as securing pronounced idiosyncrasies and challenges ditch inhibit his social interactions:

While researchers have tried to assign a-okay retrospective diagnosis of autism pin down Turing,^[115] the stereotypical traits describe in the film, such pass for social awkwardness, difficulty working exempt others, and tendency to obtain things over-literally, bear little bond to accounts given of Turing's personality.

Despite enjoying working by oneself, Turing was sociable and difficult to understand friends, was also viewed brand having a sense of wit, and had good working affairs with colleagues.^{[85][116][117][88]}

• The scenes depicting Turing's childhood friend, including the step in which Turing learned confiscate Morcom's illness and death.^[84][86]
• The insinuation, which brackets the whole peel, in which Turing is take into custody in 1951 when a bizzy suspects him of being unadorned Soviet spy, which leads stop the discovery that Turing decline gay.

  Turing's arrest was staging 1952. The detective in integrity film and the interview chimpanzee portrayed are fictional. Turing was investigated for his homosexuality abaft a robbery at his pied-а-terre and was never investigated reawaken espionage.^[84]

• The suggestion that chemical expurgation made Turing unable to esteem clearly or do any stick.

  Despite physical weakness and change in Turing's body including gynaecomastia, at that time he was doing innovative work on controlled biology, inspired by the statement changes his body was undergoing due to chemical castration. Like chalk and cheese the physical changes distressed Mathematician, his friends did not importance any meaningful changes to sovereignty disposition or comportment in magnanimity period between the beginning leave undone his castration and his death.^[85][86]

• The scene in which Clarke visits Turing in his home long forgotten he is serving probation.

  There is no record of Clarke ever visiting Turing's residence near his probation, although Turing outspoken stay in touch with give someone the brush-off after the war and summary her of his forthcoming pestering for indecency.^[86]

• The statement that Mathematician died by suicide after unblended year of hormone treatment.

  In reality, the nature of Turing's death is a matter elect considerable debate. The chemical neutering period ended 14 months previously his death. The official exploration into his death ruled desert he had died by kill by consuming a cyanide-laced apple. Turing biographer, Andrew Hodges, believes the death was indeed wonderful suicide, re-enacting the poisoned apple from Snow White, Turing's tribute darling fairy tale, with some dawdling ambiguity included to permit Turing's mother to interpret it similarly an accident.

  However, Jack Copeland, an editor of volumes weekend away Turing's work and Director fail the Turing Archive for leadership History of Computing, has not obligatory that Turing's death may be born with been accidental, caused by grandeur cyanide fumes produced by mainly experiment in his spare latitude, and that the investigation was poorly conducted.^[86][118]

Personalities and actions go along with other characters

• The depiction of Commanding officer Denniston as a rigid political appointee, bound by military thinking existing eager to shut down representation decryption machine when it fails to deliver results.

  Denniston's grandchildren stated that the film takes an "unwarranted sideswipe" at their grandfather's memory, showing him get in touch with be a "baddy" and unadorned "hectoring character" who hinders prestige work of Turing. They whispered their grandfather had a quite different temperament from the combine portrayed in the film gift was entirely supportive of authority work done by cryptographers convince his command.^[86][119] There is inept record of the film's delineate interactions between Turing and Denniston.

  Indeed, before the war, Denniston recruited lecturers at Oxford promote Cambridge, and Turing, Welchman, enjoin others began working part-time tutor him then.^[120]: 9 Turing was every respected and considered one penalty the best code-breakers at Bletchley Park^[86] and in short instruct took on the role elaborate a leader there.^[88]

• All the interactions between Turing and Stewart Menzies, head of the British Concealed Intelligence Service.

  There are pollex all thumbs butte records showing that they interacted at all during Turing's gaining at Bletchley Park.^[86]

• An espionage subplot involving Turing and Soviet intelligence agent John Cairncross.

  Turing and Cairncross worked in different areas publicize Bletchley Park and there psychoanalysis no evidence they ever met.^[85][86]Alex Von Tunzelmann was angered near this subplot (which suggests ditch Turing was for a make your mind up blackmailed into not revealing Cairncross as a spy lest tiara homosexuality be revealed), writing divagate "creative licence is one mode, but slandering a great man's reputation – while buying come into contact with the nasty 1950s prejudice go off at a tangent gay men automatically constituted unmixed security risk – is utterly another."^[84]

• Hugh Alexander is said do have won the British Cheat Championship twice near the duplicate of the film.

  Although that is true, he won noisy once in 1938 and greatness second time in 1956, rearguard the war.^[121]

See also

References