CLIP FILM THE IMITATION GAME PRODUCTION: London, UK 2014 Black Bear Pictures - Bristol Automotive DIRECTOR: Morten Tyldum STARRING: Benedict Cumberbatch (Alan Turing), Keira Knightley (Joan Clarke), Matthew Goode (Hugh Alexander), Allen Leech, Rory Kinnear SYNOPSIS In 1951 two policemen investigate the mathematician Alan Turing after an apparent burglary at his home. During his interrogation, Turing tells of his time working at Bletchley Park. A flashback tells us that in 1927 the young Turing was unhappy and bullied at boarding school. He developed a friendship with Christopher Morcom, who sparked his interest in cryptography, and developed romantic feelings for him. Before Turing could confess his love, Christopher died unexpectedly from tuberculosis. In 1939, when Britain declares war on Germany, Turing travels to Bletchley Park, where he joins five other cryptanalysts who are trying to decrypt the Enigma machine, which the Nazis use to send coded messages. Turing is difficult to work with and considers his colleagues inferior; he works alone to design a very expensive machine to decipher Enigma. Prime Minister Winston Churchill puts him in charge of the team and funds the machine. Turing fires two components of the team and hires Joan Clarke. Turing s machine, which he names Christopher, is constructed but cannot determine the Enigma . . . . . . settings before the Germans reset the Enigma encryption each day. The Chief in Command orders to destroy the machine and fire Turing, but the other cryptographers threaten to leave if he goes. After overhearing a clerk speaking about messages she receives, Turing realises he can program the machine to decode words he already knows exist in certain messages. After he recalibrates the machine, it quickly decodes a message, but Turing realises they cannot act on every decoded message or the Germans will realise Enigma has been deciphered. Turing discovers one of his team-mates is a Soviet spy, but he threatens to disclose Turing s homosexuality if his role as an agent is revealed. Fearing for her safety, Turing tells Joan to leave Bletchley Park, revealing that he is gay and lying about never having cared for her. After the war, the cryptographers are ordered to destroy their work and never reveal what they have done. In the 1950s Turing is convicted of indecency: he accepts to undergo chemical castration so he can continue his work. Eventually, however, he commits suicide. burglary: furto in appartamento to convict: condannare . . BEFORE WATCHING . 9 . Answer the questions. 1. After reading the synopsis, surf the net to find information about the German Enigma Machine. 2. Before watching the film clip, in your opinion, was Alan Turing s genius understood by the British Government representatives? Give reasons for your answer. 3. How do you imagine the size of Christopher , Turing s decoding machine? 160 MECHATRONICS MechPower.indb 160 30/01/24 17:08