The Imitation Game

''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 American biographical thriller film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, based on the 1983 biography '' Alan Turing: The Enigma'' by Andrew Hodges. The film's title quotes the name of the game cryptanalyst Alan Turing proposed for answering the question "Can machines think?", in his 1950 seminal paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence". The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing, who decrypted German intelligence messages for the British government during World War II. Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, and Mark Strong appear in supporting roles.

Following its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 29, 2014, ''The Imitation Game'' was released theatrically in the United States on November 14. It grossed over $233 million worldwide on a $14 million production budget, making it the highest-grossing independent film of 2014. The film received critical acclaim but faced significant criticism for its historical inaccuracies, including depicting several events that had never taken place in real life. It received eight nominations at the 87th Academy Awards (including Best Picture), winning for Best Adapted Screenplay. It also received five nominations at the Golden Globes, three at the SAG Awards and nine at the BAFTAs. Cumberbatch and Knightley's highly acclaimed performances were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively at each award.

Plot

In 1951, police investigate the mathematician Alan Turing after an apparent home break-in. During his interrogation, Turing talks of his work at Bletchley Park during WWII.

In 1928, the young Turing is constantly bullied at boarding school. Developing a friendship with Christopher Morcom, who sparks his interest in cryptography, he soon develops romantic feelings. However, Christopher shortly dies from tuberculosis.

When Britain declares war on Germany in 1939, Turing joins the cryptography team of Hugh Alexander, John Cairncross, Peter Hilton, Keith Furman, and Charles Richards in Bletchley Park, directed by Commander Alastair Denniston. They are to analyze the Enigma machine, which the Nazis use to send coded messages.

Difficult to work with, and believing his colleagues to be inferior, Turing works alone to design a machine to decipher Enigma messages. When Denniston refuses to fund the machine's £100,000 construction cost, Turing contacts Prime Minister Winston Churchill who appoints him as team leader and provides necessary funds. Turing then fires Furman and Richards and places a difficult crossword in newspapers as a test to find replacements.

Cambridge graduate Joan Clarke passes Turing's test but her family will not allow her to work with the male cryptographers. Turing arranges for her to live and work with the women who intercept the messages, and shares his plans with her. Clarke helps Turing warm to the others, who begin to respect him.

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

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

Overhearing a clerk talking about messages she receives from the same German coder, Turing has an epiphany: he can program the machine to decode words he already knows exist in certain messages. A German coder always opening his first message with a standard plaintext German script reveals enough of the day's Enigma code for Christopher to quickly decode all the day's messages. Recalibrating the machine, it quickly decodes a message, and the cryptographers celebrate.

Discovering a convoy is about to be attacked, Turing realizes that if they suddenly react to prevent it the Germans will know Enigma is compromised and change it. Therefore, the team cannot act on every decoded message, so they do not act to save the convoy although Peter begs them, as his brother is part of it. Turing creates a statistical model to choose the warnings to send to maximize destruction and minimize detection.

Discovering Cairncross is a Soviet spy, Turing confronts him. He argues that the Soviets are allies, working for the same goals, and threatens to retaliate by disclosing Turing's sexuality. When the top MI6 agent Stewart Menzies appears to threaten Clarke, Turing reveals that Cairncross is a spy. Menzies already knew, leaking misinformation to the Soviets for British benefit.

Turing urges Clarke to leave Bletchley Park, telling her he is a homosexual. She always suspected but insists they would have been happy together anyway. Fearing for her safety, Turing says he never cared for her, and only used her for her cryptography skills.

Although heartbroken, Clarke stays on, knowing how important it is. She refuses to bow down to what Turing or her parents want her to do, or what they think of her decisions.

After the war, Menzies has the cryptographers destroy the evidence, as MI6 wants governments to believe they have unbreakable code machines. The team should never meet again or share what they have done.

In 1952, Turing is convicted of gross indecency and undergoes chemical castration instead of prison, so he can continue his work. Clarke visits him, witnesses his physical and mental deterioration, and tries to comfort him.

The epilogue shows Turing committed suicide on June 7, 1954, after a year of government-mandated hormonal therapy. In 2013, Queen Elizabeth II granted him a posthumous Royal Pardon. Historians estimate that breaking Enigma shortened the war by over two years, saving over 14 million lives; and Turing's work was an important step towards today's computers.

Cast

Production

Development

Before Cumberbatch joined the project, Warner Bros. bought the screenplay for a reported seven-figure sum because of Leonardo DiCaprio's interest in playing Turing. In the end, DiCaprio did not come on board and the rights of the script reverted to the screenwriter. Black Bear Pictures subsequently committed to finance the film for $14 million. Various directors were attached during development including Ron Howard and David Yates. In December 2012, it was announced that '' Headhunters'' director Morten Tyldum would helm the project, making the film his English-language directorial debut.

Production design

The bombe seen in the film is based on a replica of Turing's original machine, which is housed in the museum at Bletchley Park. However, production designer Maria Djurkovic admitted that her team made the machine more cinematic by making it larger and having more of its internal mechanisms visible.

The costumes were designed by Sammy Sheldon Differ, using as many authentically 1940s pieces as possible. Benedict Cumberbatch had "frequent conversations" with Differ to develop his character's wardrobe and physical mannerisms. Where originally costumes were not available, the team commissioned reproductions, using appropriate fabrics like linen and cotton. Differ explained, "those materials can be made to drape in a particular way, and the way they sit on the body resists duplication".

Filming

Principal photography began on September 15, 2013, in Britain. Filming locations included Turing's former school, Sherborne, Bletchley Park, where Turing and his colleagues worked during the war, and Central Saint Martins campus on Southampton Row in London. Other locations included towns in England such as Nettlebed ( Joyce Grove in Oxfordshire) and Chesham (Buckinghamshire). Scenes were also filmed at Bicester Airfield and outside the Law Society building in Chancery Lane

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