History Film / TheImitationGame

* LetNoCrisisGoToWaste: a devastating convoy attack is used by the codebreakers to get back in to the German naval code. ("If it's happening anyway, we might as well use it to our advantage" - Turing)

* EventTitle

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Alan Turing is an [[AcademicAlphaBitch academical]] version of this.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Nobody tries to analyse or categorise Turing's clearly unusual way of processing, with his mother's description of being "an odd duck" the closest thing to a label his mentality is given. This is unsurprising given how much less developed psychology was at the time; autism wasn't identified until 1944, and Asperger's was only recognised as a separate sub-condition starting in 1988.

''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 biopic film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, based on the life of British computer scientist and wartime codebreaker UsefulNotes/AlanTuring, starring Creator/BenedictCumberbatch as Turing, with Creator/KeiraKnightley, Creator/CharlesDance, and Creator/MarkStrong in supporting roles. The film is based on Andrew Hodges' 1983 biography ''Alan Turing: The Enigma'', and derived its title from the name of the game Turing proposed in a 1950 paper to answer the question "Can machines think?"

The movie is primarily set during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Second World War]] when Turing worked at the Bletchley Park compound where the British Government had set up a top-secret code-breaking and intelligence-gathering station, under the cover of an electronics factory. Turing and his colleagues were assembled from universities around the country and tasked with breaking the German Enigma encryption that was used for most German communications.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: At one point, Alan decides they can't use the broken code to stop a planned bombing raid by the Germans, because they risk them finding out they've broken Enigma. Such a decision would never be made by low ranking code breakers, and would be given to the higher-ups, following the chain of command. Everyone in the room would know this as well.

* BreakHerHeartToSaveHer: Turing obviously cares about Joan in his own way, but after Menzies' visit, he tells her "I don't care about you, I only wanted your help to break Enigma" to get her out of harm's way. [[TearJerker She slaps him when he says it, with tears in her eyes, and he doesn't move or shrink away like he usually does from violence.]] [[SubvertedTrope And then she declares she's staying because she has no intention of letting anyone, especially Turing, tell her what to do.]]
* BrokenTears: When Turing explains to Joan his choosing of chemical castration over prison so he could continue to work on "Christopher," he breaks down sobbing that it's because "[he doesn't] want to be alone."
* ButNotTooGay: It was attacked for this. The film has had accusations that Alan Turing is interested in Joan Clarke, especially when he proposes to her. TheReveal is that his flashbacks to his friendship with Christopher in school was actually a one-sided crush that never went anywhere. In the film, he is blackmailed and persecuted for being gay, but never actually shown engaging in any relationships on-screen.

* DeathOfAThousandCuts: [[spoiler:Once the Enigma code is broken, this is essentially how the British government plans to win the war with the intelligence they can decypher. As Alan says, "Now comes the hard part."]]

** When a young Turing is called into his headmaster's office about concerns raised between him and his best friend Christopher, Turing--out of a need to hide any possibilities of his homosexuality being outed--vehemently denies even knowing Christopher until the headmaster says three simple words that break him, [[spoiler:with the headmaster falsely assuming that Turing already knew]].

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Joan is the only major character who is female. See TheChick above for more.

* TheChick: Joan Clarke. TruthInTelevision since as a woman she can only come to Bletchley as part of the pool of typists and radio operators, and helps Alan in her spare time.

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** The [[spoiler:one German operator who used his girlfriend's name (Cilly) in many of his transmissions]] sounds like a fanciful way of "humanizing" how the codes were broken. [[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Wv4mSVDtA-wC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=German+operator%E2%80%99s+girlfriend,+Cilly&source=bl&ots=ZJ8IIRiLG6&sig=WQbLM1iOuD2fEeeG6-Q0Y7xnTEI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lJJ7VL-wO8fvOZLJgJgF&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=German%20operator%E2%80%99s%20girlfriend%2C%20Cilly&f=false It is in fact an entirely true story]], but not the solo EurekaMoment for the code breakers as there were many German operators who left telltale words in their messages ("Heil Hitler" also being one of them).
** Additionally, because military messages always follow a set format, Bletchley would arrange for the military to do something which they knew the Germans would report -- such as air-dropped naval mines at a specific point. Because they already knew what the message said, they could easily work it backwards.
** Joan's apathetic reaction to Turing's sexuality [[EternalSexualFreedom seems far-fetched,]] but she was indeed reportedly "unfazed" when he admitted it to her.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Joan gives one to Alan after he says straight to her face that [[spoiler:he never cared for her and only used her to further his breaking of Enigma]].

** Commander Denniston is depicted as a rigid, snarky {{Jerkass}} who holds Turing in barely-concealed contempt and tries shutting down his Christopher project. This doesn't tally with the real Denniston, who had a cordial-to-friendly relationship with Turing. Denniston's family [[http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/27/imitation-game-alastair-denniston-inaccurate-family was not pleased with his portrayal]].

* MoodWhiplash: [[spoiler:When "Christopher" works and the team break the code, they are ecstatic and quickly draw out a map of the positions of all the convoys and U-boats in the North Atlantic. But they soon come to (literal) blows when Alan explains that they cannot use their knowledge to call off any attacks for fear of giving away their breakthrough, especially because one of the team members' brother is on one of the ships set to be destroyed.]]

''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 biopic film about the British computer scientist and wartime codebreaker UsefulNotes/AlanTuring, starring Creator/BenedictCumberbatch as Turing, with Creator/KeiraKnightley, Creator/CharlesDance, and Creator/MarkStrong.

* HaveIMentionedIAmGay: Turing's homosexual activities are referred to in dialogue, but all we ever get on-screen are a couple of flashbacks to his adolescent years, and even then we only see him looking longingly at other boys.

** Joan's apathetic reaction to Turing's sexuality seems far-fetched, but she was indeed reportedly "unfazed" when he admitted it to her.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Commander Denniston is depicted as a rigid, snarky {{Jerkass}} who holds Turing in barely-concealed contempt and tries shutting down his Christopher project. This doesn't tally with the real Denniston, who had a cordial-to-friendly relationship with Turing. Denniston's family [[http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/27/imitation-game-alastair-denniston-inaccurate-family was not pleased with his portrayal]].

* PlotHole: [[spoiler:The heroes really do decipher Enigma, and then they realize that if they act to quickly and respond instantly to the Germans' secret messages, the latter would catch wind of what happened. So far, no problems. So then they decide to hatch an elaborate plot that involves keeping most of the British admiralcy in the dark. Why the hell they conclude that ''Sir Winston Churchill'' wouldn't understand their point, is not exactly explained.]]

* AnAesop: [[BeYourself Stay weird, stay different.]] Writer Graham Moore emphasizes this message in his emotional [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbNJq90t0Wk Oscar acceptance speech]].

* AnAesop: [[BeYourself Stay weird, stay different]]. Writer Graham Moore emphasizes this message in his emotional [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGF8bzeRwcw Oscar acceptance speech]].

** "It is those whom nobody imagines anything from who can do things nobody can imagine."

* AmbiguousDisorder: Nobody tries to analyse or categorise Turing's clearly unusual way of processing, with his mother's description of being "an odd duck" the closest thing to a label his mentality is given. Unsurprising given how much less developed psychology was at the time. Autism wasn't identified until 1944, Aspergers was recognised as a separate sub-condition in 1988.

* CharacterExaggeration: There is widespread speculation that [[http://crackingtheenigma.blogspot.com/2012/06/did-alan-turing-have-asperger-syndrome.html Turing was autistic,]] but the film depicts him as far blunter and more socially oblivious than he was in RealLife.

* InformedAttribute: We're told that Cairncross isn't very bright, but he's also portrayed as one of only five people in Britain smart enough to be on Turing's team. Menzies does rather lampshade this when he points out that, as bad as Cairncross is at his job, Turing, who is a lot smarter, would have been even worse. [[note]] The real Cairncross placed first in his group when he took the British Civil Service Exam, so definitely not stupid. On the other hand, he was caught as a spy in 1951 when a note in his hand was found in the flat of Guy Burgess, who had just fled to the Soviet Union, so him being a poor spy might not be that much of a stretch. It is doubtful that [=MI6=] knew he was a spy as early as the events of the movie would suggest, however. [[/note]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Some of Alan's scenes with Joan are geeky, slightly awkward and utterly endearing. For instance, they have lunch together outside in what appears to be a picnic date, but they are solving complex mathematical equations. Alan later steals encrypted messages from Bletchley Park, throws little rocks at Joan's window as if he were a would-be suitor, and then sneaks into her room past visiting hours to see if they can find a pattern that can help them break the Enigma code. When Clarke's parents pressure her to quit her job to get married, Turing proposes to Joan on the spot despite not being fully dressed (his shirt is untucked while his suspenders are loose) and there is still a little bit of shaving cream on his face; he then creates a makeshift engagement ring from a wire that he finds in his pocket.