TIME ranked Cumberbatch's portrayal number one in its Top 10 film performances of 2014, with the magazine's chief film critic Richard Corliss calling Cumberbatch's characterisation "the actor's oddest, fullest, most Cumberbatchian character yet ... he doesn't play Turing so much as inhabit him, bravely and sympathetically but without mediation". ", in his 1950 seminal paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence". James Turing, a great-nephew of the code-breaker, said Cumberbatch "knows things that I never knew before. [85] L.V. "[88], Despite earlier reservations, Turing's niece Inagh Payne told Allan Beswick of BBC Radio Manchester that the film "really did honour my uncle" after she watched the film at the London Film Festival in October 2014. His code breaking efforts led to the cracking of the German Enigma during World War II, work that saved countless lives and accelerated the Allied defeat of the Nazis. Praise went to Knightley's supporting performance as Clarke, Goldenberg's editing, Desplat's score, Faura's cinematography and Djurkovic's production design. [33], The official film website allowed visitors to unlock exclusive content by solving cryptic crossword puzzles supposedly conceived by Turing. [14][15], Principal photography began on September 15, 2013 in Britain. Homosexuality was a crime in Great Britain in the early 1950s, falling under gross indecency in Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Imitation Game : Alan Turing Decoded by Jim Ottaviani (2019, Trade Paperback) at the … Was this review helpful to you? The suggestion that Enigma was the only German cipher broken at Bletchley Park. [28] The first UK and US trailers were released on 22 July 2014. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger. The New York Observer's Rex Reed declared that "one of the most important stories of the last century is one of the greatest movies of 2014". [60][61] Lou Lumenick of the New York Post described it as a "thoroughly engrossing Oscar-caliber movie", while critic James Rocchi added that the film is "strong, stirring, triumphant and tragic". Another "[101], Speaking to Empire, director Tyldum expressed his decision to take on the project: "It is such a complex story. The scenes depicting Turing's childhood friend, including the manner in which Turing learned of Morcom's illness and death. Cumberbatch's performance was met with widespread acclaim from critics. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Turing (1950) introduces the imitation game by describing a game in which the participants are a man, a woman, and a human interrogator. In the 1950s, Alan Turing proposed his influential test for machine intelligence, which involved a teletyped dialogue between a human player, a machine, and an interrogator. [100] Turing's niece Payne thought that Knightley was inappropriately cast, as she described the real Clarke as "rather plain", and said: "I think they might be trying to romanticise it. Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, and Mark Strong also star. It also received nine BAFTA nominations and won the People's Choice Award at the 39th Toronto International Film Festival. The visual blog Information is Beautiful deduced that, while taking creative licence into account, the film was just 42.3% accurate when compared to real-life events, summarizing that "shoe-horning the incredible complexity of the Enigma machine and cryptography in general was never going to be easy. Written by Fearing for her safety, Turing tells Clarke to leave Bletchley Park, revealing that he is a homosexual. [97][98], During production, there was criticism regarding the film's purported downplaying of Turing's homosexuality,[99] particularly condemning the portrayal of his relationship with close friend and one-time fiancée Joan Clarke. T hough The Imitation Game was largely based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma, much of Alan Turing’s life is shrouded in mystery. Following the Royal Pardon granted by the British government to Turing on December 24, 2013, the filmmakers released the first official promotional photograph of Cumberbatch in character beside Turing's bombe. Scenes were also filmed at Bicester Airfield and outside the Law Society building in Chancery Lane, and at West London Film Studios. Adjusted for inflation, it outperformed the Weinstein Company's own Oscar-winning films The King's Speech ($88,863 in 2010) and The Artist ($51,220 in 2011), which were also released on Thanksgiving weekend. Much of mathematician Alan Turing's life was shrouded in secrecy for years. In June 2014, it was announced that Alexandre Desplat would provide the original score of the film. The 1948 book "Cybernetics" coined the prefix "cyber" and wondered whether it wo… Director Tyldum, screenwriter Moore, and actress Knightley were also in attendance. The Imitation Game ( deutsch „Das Imitationsspiel“) des Regisseurs Morten Tyldum ist eine dramatisierte Filmbiografie über den britischen Logiker, Mathematiker, Kryptoanalytiker und Informatiker Alan Turing. It was released theatrically in the United States on November 28, 2014. The scene in which Clarke visits Turing in his home while he is serving probation. Le film est inspiré de la vie du mathématicien et cryptanalyste britannique Alan Turing, notamment pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, lorsqu'il a travaillé à Bletchley Park. [6][7][8][9][10] In the end, DiCaprio did not come on board and the rights of the script reverted to the screenwriter. Who,' As Warner Bros Tempts Him With 'Imitation Game, "The Riddle Who Unlocked the Enigma - 'The Imitation Game' Dramatizes the Story of Alan Turing", "Sherlock's on the trail of a new movie blockbuster", "Harvey Weinstein Pays Record $7 Million For 'Imitation Game' Movie", "Alexandre Desplat Takes Over Scoring Duties on 'The Imitation Game, "Composer Alexandre Desplat Talks THE IMITATION GAME, Coming to the Project Late, Finding Continuity in His Scores, His Love of Conducting, and More", "Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in First Look at 'The Imitation Game' (Photo)", "In honor of today's Royal Pardon, please find the first still released from the upcoming film, The Imitation Game", "Benedict Cumberbatch outwits Nazis in 'The Imitation Game' -- FIRST LOOK", "New Stills Of Benedict Cumberbatch And Keira Knightley In The Imitation Game", "June, summer, and Princeton University Press in the movies", "The Imitation Game will open the 58th BFI London Film Festival", "New Teaser Poster For The Imitation Game Arrives Online", "Zuckerberg, Weinstein Play 'The Imitation Game' With Tech Titans: Oscar Watch", "Mark Zuckerberg Interview: Breakthrough Prizes and Turning Scientists Into Heroes Again", "THE IMITATION GAME: Bletchley Park opens exhibit after Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley film there", "Crossword blog: Alan Turing was no crossword fiend", "Could you have been a codebreaker at Bletchley Park? In the scene where Joan Clarke arrives at Bletchley park for the first time she travels there on a coach with vehicle registration HOD 75. [106], The Imitation Game was nominated for, and received, numerous awards, with Cumberbatch's portrayal of Turing particularly praised. A surge of new technologies developed during World War II, including early computers, space satellites and nuclear power, had captured the intellectual and public imagination. "As soon as computers are mentioned at all, people are talking about electronic brains and the possibility of the computer rivaling the brain," says Hodges. Turing was pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II in 2013. The final scene shows an on screen message saying, "After a year of government-mandated hormonal therapy, Turing committed suicide on June 7th, 1954. Our goal was to give you "What does Alan Turing feel like?" [70][71] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone asserted that the actor "gives an explosive, emotionally complex" portrayal. [35] Google, which sponsored the New York Premiere of the film, launched a competition called "The Code-Cracking Challenge" on November 23, 2014. [65] Critic Scott Foundas stated that the "movie is undeniably strong in its sense of a bright light burned out too soon, and the often undignified fate of those who dare to chafe at society's established norms". [104], A lot of historical films sometimes feel like people reading a Wikipedia page to you onscreen, like just reciting "and then he did that, and then he did that, and then he did this other thing" – it's like a "Greatest Hits" compilation. [77] The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy reported that the undeniable highlight of the film was Cumberbatch, "whose charisma, tellingly modulated and naturalistic array of eccentricities, talent at indicating a mind never at rest and knack for simultaneously portraying physical oddness and attractiveness combine to create an entirely credible portrait of genius at work". [95], This petition eventually resulted in the Policing and Crime Act 2017, informally known as the Alan Turing law, which serves as an amnesty law to pardon men who were cautioned or convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts, and which was implemented on 31 January 2017. It was the gay rights element, but also how his (Turing's) ideas were kept secret and how incredibly important his work was during the war, that he was never given credit for it". The naming of the Enigma-breaking machine "Christopher" after Turing's childhood friend, with Turing the only cryptographer working on it while others either did not help or outright opposed it. 6 VIDEOS | 202 IMAGES. [26] On what would have been Turing's 102nd birthday on 23 June, Empire released two photographs featuring Mark Strong and Charles Dance in character. Il s'agit de l'adaptation cinématographique de la biographie Alan Turing ou l'énigme de l'intelligence (Alan Turing: The Enigma) d'Andrew Hodges. The original game used text-based responses, whereas this experiment generates emotional ones. [84] Journalist Christian Caryl also found numerous historical inaccuracies, describing the film as constituting "a bizarre departure from the historical record" that changed Turing's rich life to be "multiplex-friendly". "We are proud to honor the stars and filmmakers of The Imitation Game for bringing the captivating yet tragic story of Alan Turing to the big screen", HRC president Chad Griffin said in a statement. The film was criticized by some for its inaccurate portrayal of historical events and for downplaying Turing's homosexuality. They provide the opportunity to illustrate and play out Turing’s PhD thesis on artificial intelligence - the imitation game itself and, at the same time, highlighting his war-time role and also asking the question “man or machine” of Turing’s himself. [55] The film received a rare average grade of "A+" from market-research firm CinemaScore, and a 90% "definite recommend" rating from its core audience, according to PostTrak. [66] Critic Leonard Maltin asserted that the film has "an ideal ensemble cast with every role filled to perfection". [68][69] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times declared Turing "the role of Cumberbatch's career", while A.O. We've Separated Fact From Fiction", "Colossal Genius: Tutte, Flowers, and a Bad Imitation of Turing", "Benedict Cumberbatch in call to pardon convicted gay men", "Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry Call for Pardons for Gays Persecuted Alongside 'Imitation Game' Subject", "Stephen Fry's campaign to pardon all gay men ruined by 'malicious' law", "Alan Turing & 49k other men were prosecuted for being gay. Turing realises they cannot act on every decoded message or the Germans will realise Enigma has been broken. For the imitation game, see, Personalities and actions of other characters, when and whether to use data from Ultra intelligence, Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), List of accolades received by The Imitation Game, "The Weinstein Co. Special: How They Turned 'Imitation Game' Director Into an Oscar Contender", "Imitation Game Release Date Changed to November 28", "Delighted to announce Alan Turing #movie THE IMITATION GAME w/ Benedict Cumberbatch will have its UK release on Nov 14th 2014 @tigmovie", "Benedict Cumberbatch In Talks To Play Alan Turing In 'The Imitation Game, "Warner Bros Buys Spec Script About Math Genius Alan Turing For Leonardo DiCaprio", "Warner Bros Sets Black List Top Scribe Graham Moore For 'Devil In The White City'; Leonardo DiCaprio To Play Serial Killer", "Leonardo DiCaprio Exits THE IMITATION GAME; Warner Bros. The Imitation Game jumps around three time periods – Turing’s schooldays in 1928, his cryptographic work at Bletchley Park from 1939-45, and his arrest for gross indecency in Manchester in 1952. It received eight nominations at the 87th Academy Awards, winning for Best Adapted Screenplay, five nominations in the 72nd Golden Globe Awards, and three nominations at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards. Rated PG-13 for some sexual references, mature thematic material and historical smoking, Why 2021 could be a good year for UK distributors and the filmmakers they support, Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim Make Late Entry Into Awards Race With STXfilms’ ‘The Mauritanian’ (Exclusive), Rlj Entertainment & Shudder Acquire Neil Marshall’s The Reckoning for 2021 Release, Top 100 Movies as Rated by Women on IMDb in 2016, The Top 200 Movies as Rated by Women on IMDb in 2018, IMDb 25: Most Iconic Movie Quotes from the Last 25 Years. [80], While praising the performances of Cumberbatch and Knightley, Catherine Shoard of The Guardian stated that the film is "too formulaic, too efficient at simply whisking you through and making sure you've clocked the diversity message". [5] It was the top-grossing independent film release of 2014. [19], The Weinstein Company acquired the film for $7 million in February 2014, the highest amount ever paid for US distribution rights at the European Film Market. Its opening was 107% higher than that of Argo, 81% higher than Philomena and 26% higher than The Iron Lady following its debut. The paper starts shifting gears, Turing has our attention and wants it all on the core of the game itself. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as British cryptanalyst Alan Turing, who decrypted German intelligence messages for the British government durin… The Imitation Game grossed over $233 million worldwide on a $14 million production budget, making it the highest-grossing independent film of 2014. One such movie is “The Imitation Game,” a 2014 film about Alan Turing and his small team of elite mathematicians and code breakers who broke … I couldn't think of anyone better." No need to waste time endlessly browsing—here's the entire lineup of new movies and TV shows streaming on Netflix this month. [102] The producers of the film stated: "There is not – and never has been – a version of our script where Alan Turing is anything other than homosexual, nor have we included fictitious sex scenes."[103]. In the 2014 film The Imitation Game, Alan Turing is shown recruiting code breakers by publishing a crossword in the Daily Telegraph with a message asking people who could solve it in ten minutes or fewer to get in touch. Turing, played by Benedict Cumberbatch in … Alan Turing, depicted by Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, wasn't the only one who suffered The new form of the problem can be described in terms of a game which we call the 'imitation game." During his interrogation by Nock, Turing tells of his time working at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. "[87] Computing historian Thomas Haigh, writing in the journal Communications of the ACM, said that "the film is a bad guide to reality but a useful summary of everything that the popular imagination gets wrong about Bletchley Park", that it "combines the traditional focus of popular science writing on the lone genius who changes the world with the modern movie superhero narrative of a freak who must overcome his own flaws before he can save the world", and that, together with the likes of A Beautiful Mind and The Theory of Everything, is part of a trend of "glossy scientific biopic[s]" that emphasize those famous scientists who were surrounded by tragedy rather than those who found contented lives, which in turn affects the way "[s]ome kinds of people, and work, have become famous and others have not. Can we create the experience of sort of "Alan Turing-ness" for an audience based on his life? [22] It was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London. ", in his 1950 seminal paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence". In the 1950s, Turing is convicted of gross indecency and, in lieu of a jail sentence, undergoes chemical castration so he can continue his work. [38], TWC launched a print and online campaign on January 2, 2015 featuring testimonials from leaders in the fields of technology, military, academia, and LGBTQ groups (all influenced by Turing's life and accomplishments) to promote the film and Turing's legacy. This question, Turing believed, is one that can actually be answered. Its opening box office figure was the third highest opening weekend haul for a British film in 2014. [62] Empire described it as a "superb thriller" and Glamour declared it "an instant classic". Use the HTML below. The Imitation Game ( 2014) The Imitation Game. [23] He said of the complexity of the continuity and structure of the score: [W]hen the camera at the end of the film has those beautiful shots of the young boy, the young Alan, and he's meeting with the professor who's telling him his friend Christopher is dead, and the camera is pushing in on him, I play Christopher's theme that we heard very early on in the film. After Clarke plans to leave on the wishes of her parents, Turing proposes marriage, which she accepts. Critic Clayton Davis stated that it is a "performance for the ages ... proving he's one of the best actors working today". Strange", "Broken Codes, Both Strategic and Social", "The Imitation Game cracks code to win People's Choice Award at Toronto 2014", "Review: The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything", "Review: Cumberbatch cracks Oscar's code in 'Imitation, "Telluride: Benedict Cumberbatch Leads Weinstein's 'Imitation Game' Into Oscar Fray", "Toronto sings Cumberbatch's praises as WWII code-breaker", "The Imitation Game review: Knightley and Cumberbatch impress, but historical spoilers lower the tension", "The Imitation Game, review: 'clever, calculated, "The Imitation Game is strangely shy about Alan Turing's sexuality", "The Imitation Game: inventing a new slander to insult Alan Turing", "How Accurate Is The Imitation Game? Alan Turing and the Imitation Game. [17], 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. Joan Clarke, a Cambridge graduate, passes Turing's test but her parents will not allow her to work with the male cryptographers. CEO Marissa Mayer, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales all gave tribute quotes. After Denniston refuses to fund construction of the machine, Turing writes to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who puts Turing in charge of the team and funds the machine. [46], The Imitation Game was released on March 31, 2015 in the United States in two formats: a one-disc standard DVD and a Blu-ray with a digital copy of the film. The first version of the game he explained involved no computer intelligence whatsoever. Featuring an outstanding starring performance from Benedict Cumberbatch as war hero Turning and supporting acts from a brilliant cast including Keira Knightley, Charles Dance and Mark Strong, 'The Imitation Game' is a powerful and eminently well-made biopic that illuminates the facts whilst respecting the story it is based upon. [4][11][12] Various directors were attached during development including Ron Howard and David Yates. Scene-by-scene Breakdown of Hollywood Films", "The misguided bid to turn Alan Turing into an Asperger's martyr", "Alan Turing: Inquest's suicide verdict 'not supportable, "Bletchley Park commander not the 'baddy' he is in The Imitation Game, family say", "Golden Globes: 'Birdman,' 'Fargo' Top Nominations", "Benedict Cumberbatch cracks the code to make Bletchley Park a hit", "Top 10 Best Movie Performances (#1 Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in, GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Imitation_Game&oldid=993416397, Biographical films about computer and internet entrepreneurs, Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Pages using multiple image with manual scaled images, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.