Alan Turing has many claims to fame: he developed a decoding machine, he inspired the name for Steve Jobs’ supercompany, and, best of all, Leonardo DiCaprio wants to play him in a movie. Specifically, a movie called The Imitation Game, written by Graham Moore, which Warner Bros. snatched up in hopes of attracting the star to headline.
Turing is one of those people about whom we really need a movie to be made. Why? Primarily, because it’s very difficult to understand exactly what he did (at least for those of us with the scientific intellectualism of mere film and television writers). And when things are misunderstood, they are often either chastised or forgotten. Alan Turing was and is, unjustly, both.
Granted, Turing’s persecution in his lifetime was not for his scientific prowess. In fact, he proved indubitably valuable to his country, the United Kingdom, during World War II thanks to his efforts in the world of computer sciences, code-cracking and mathematics. It was his homosexuality (illegal in the UK in the 1950s) that incurred the wrath of the very government he had aided. In 1954, after undergoing involuntary chemical castration at the hands of the UK’s government, Turing committed suicide via a cyanide-ridden apple that he created himself.
Ron Howard is interested in directing this period film about a code-cracking genius who battles psychological demons around the time of World War II starring one of the stars of Body of Lies. Bit of a stretch for Howard, but we have faith he can pull it off.
Source: Deadline
