The Imitation Game

Status
Not open for further replies.
janiep said:
I think they do pet IIRC. I think there was a brief mention.


I think, but @HellsBells may know better than me as she's doing a lot of reading about it, that it was actually Colussus and the cracking of Tunny (a different encryption system from Enigma) rather than Turing's Bombe which cracked Enigma that led directly to the development of the computer.

Also I think I'm right in saying that we shared the technology with the Yanks as part of the deal for all the £££ they gave us in the war, and partly because that's what allies do of course. The Yanks then took the technology and saw how it might have peaceful/commercial application, and that led directly to IBM, and to Microsoft, and to Apple. Meanwhile, our government insisted that even after the end of the war it remained ultra ultra secret, so no research into the commercial possibilities was ever done. This is why Silicon Valley is in California rather than in Buckinghamshire: we invented the fucker but failed to exploit it. I think I'm right in saying this but may be wrong.
Click to expand...
Correct. Turing worked in the US at the end of the war and they got all his knowledge. When we destroyed all the bombes, they didn't.

Edit: on the Tunny bit, Tommy Flowers invented that machine to crack a different machine that the Germans were using - the Lorenz machine. TheTunny machine was the worlds first digital programmable computer.

I'm loving reading all of this shit like, it's great.
 


The Continuing Story said:
Thats amazing, very interesting. I wish I knew more on the topic.

But then again, The Daily Mail stated that its been hijacked by the gay mafia wanting to promote an agenda so its difficult to know what to believe.......:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Theres three or four captioned pictures at the end of the film which explain Turings suicide etc. One mentions the number of gays prosecuted over a specified time period iirc. THAT looks as if its been shoehorned onto the screen. If the producers/directors had included that information ALONGSIDE the other statements concerning Turings story itd be far more effective imho.

Good fillum that couldve been a great one. Cumberbunch is excellent.

As mentioned in an excellent post upthread: events sometimes have to be jazzed up and even manufactured to create an entertaining fillum. Willam Goldmans books go to great lengths to explain this and are well worth a read for anyone with a passing interest in storytelling or movies.
 
I went to see it today and thought it was a decent representation of Hodges book, and a very good film.

The trouble film makers have when transferring a book like this to the screen is trying to get as much in as they can. I don't think they have much choice but to use artistic license when they are faced with such a complicated story.

Yes, some of the things that happen in the film aren't exactly as they happened in real life, but they get it close enough. They should have made more of his relationship with Christopher Morcom, as it's a pivotal part of his life, even after Christophers' death Turing stayed close to his family. There was far more violence in the film than I remember in the book, in fact I don't remember any such acts in the book, but I suppose Hollywood always have liked a punch up.

My main criticism comes because of how Turings' personality comes across. He certainly wasn't the complete loner that is portrayed, especially in his early days at Bletchley, and he certainly wasn't ashamed of his homosexuality. Apart from that I really enjoyed the film, and if the price of getting this story across to a huge audience is a slight alteration of some facts, then it's worth it as he was an absolutely remarkable human being who's life was probably cut short because of the bigoted times in which he lived.
 
Narraback said:
I went to see it today and thought it was a decent representation of Hodges book, and a very good film.

The trouble film makers have when transferring a book like this to the screen is trying to get as much in as they can. I don't think they have much choice but to use artistic license when they are faced with such a complicated story.

Yes, some of the things that happen in the film aren't exactly as they happened in real life, but they get it close enough. They should have made more of his relationship with Christopher Morcom, as it's a pivotal part of his life, even after Christophers' death Turing stayed close to his family. There was far more violence in the film than I remember in the book, in fact I don't remember any such acts in the book, but I suppose Hollywood always have liked a punch up.

My main criticism comes because of how Turings' personality comes across. He certainly wasn't the complete loner that is portrayed, especially in his early days at Bletchley, and he certainly wasn't ashamed of his homosexuality. Apart from that I really enjoyed the film, and if the price of getting this story across to a huge audience is a slight alteration of some facts, then it's worth it as he was an absolutely remarkable human being who's life was probably cut short because of the bigoted times in which he lived.
Click to expand...
Agree with that. On the basis that I've visited Bletchley and bought the book to find out more, then in my case the film has done it's job, even if it is a bit economical with bits of the truth.

(Contrast that with Bon Jovi winning the war on a uboat and I think it's definitely fine). :)
 
HellsBells said:
Sadly they don't get a mention in the Fillum. They were cracking it for years before us, basically because they catalogued all the possible settings of the original machine.

I'm reading The Code Book by Simon Singh for those who are interested in a bit of history and a bit/fair bit of maths around the whole thing. Couple of chapters on enigma and a load of history about codes in general from the 16th century onwards. Excellent book.
Click to expand...

They do. Turing mentions them.
 
---Nemo--- said:
Well, he agrees with the female lead when she asks if his work, (or machine) is based on the Polish version. Something along those lines. :D
Click to expand...

Yes they do get a mention, but it's nowhere near the credit they get in Hodges book, but like I said earlier the filmmakers do have a dilemma as to what they do and do not include.
 
Narraback said:
Yes they do get a mention, but it's nowhere near the credit they get in Hodges book, but like I said earlier the filmmakers do have a dilemma as to what they do and do not include.
Click to expand...
it wasn't a documentary, so along the lines of what you're saying, you can't expect them to film hodges book page for page... it would end up a long boring film for most.
 
errant said:
it wasn't a documentary, so along the lines of what you're saying, you can't expect them to film hodges book page for page... it would end up a long boring film for most.
Click to expand...

Yes, I said pretty much the same thing in an earlier post. It's a good representation of an amazing man.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top