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The Imitation Game: Bringing Alan Turing's classified life to light

El Reg talks to the film's writer, director and actors about Britain's unsung hero

Turing's time at Bletchley was a 'sexual desert'

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Director Morten Tyldum talks to El Reg about the representation of Alan Turing's homosexuality in The Imitation Game

There has also been some criticism that Turing’s homosexuality wasn’t always handled well by the film, particularly as there are no scenes of Turing with a man. But Tyldum pointed out that Turing himself said in his letters that his time at Bletchley was a “sexual desert”.

And Moore said that you don’t need a sex scene in a movie to “prove” a character is a gay.

“I think that Alan Turing’s homosexuality is first and foremost in the film and it’s a tremendous part of the film,” he said.

“I think that if it was a film about a straight mathematician, people would never say, 'Oh, how come there’s no sex scenes so we know he’s straight?'”

“Alan Turing is a gay character, it’s a film about a gay man and in so many ways his status and position as a closeted gay man allowed him to achieve all of the wonders that he did in his life. He was someone who was different to those around him … and being outside of the societal mainstream allowed him to see the world in a way that no-one else had before and we wanted to make a film about that,” he added.

Regardless of the accuracy of the portrayal, what is clear is the reverence that Tyldum, Moore and Cumberbatch have for Turing. Moore said it was very important to all of them to have the support of his family and colleagues in making the film.

“In bringing a true story to light, you want to pay tribute to Turing and to everyone at Bletchley Park and that’s a tremendous responsibility and so having their support from day one, having them talk us through their memories of them was so important,” he said.

While Tyldum said that the challenge of making a film about Turing was not the fact that he was a genius, but that he was such a complex character.

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Writer Graham Moore tells El Reg about Alan Turing conspiracy theories

“He was strong and driven and determined and at the same time awkward and shy, he had great strength and he was very fragile in many ways … [He was] also a man who’s carrying layers and layers of secrets, as a closeted gay man and as someone who’s interested in puzzles who ends up in the web of MI6 with all the secrets that he has to carry all the time.

“He was such a fascinating and many layered man and that was the challenge – to try to piece him together and do him justice.” ®

The Imitation Game will be in cinemas in the UK on 14 November 14 and the US on 12 November.

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