Thrilling and Tragic in turns--but apparently fictional

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2020)

Everyone who has studied computer science or mathematical logic knows who Alan Turing is: the father of artificial intelligence, largely responsible for the computer revolution which has transformed all of our lives. But do they know what he did during World War II?
The Imitation Game presents itself as the fascinating story of how Alan Turing managed nearly singlehandedly to break the Germans´ Enigma code and consequently save the lives of millions of people by shortening the war by two years. It´s a great story--no doubt about it, but looking over some of the negative reviews, it appears that the story as relayed has been severely fictionalized.
As a fictional film, I cannot find fault with The Imitation Game. It is too bad, I suppose, that the filmmakers took excessive liberties in order to make a better film about a real historical figure. That said, The Imitation Game does manage to convey the difficulties faced by intelligent and marginalized people (in this case, homosexuals back when it was considered pathological) in coping with government bureaucracies.
I recommend this film as a work unto itself. If you want to know the true story of what happened, I suppose that you´ll have to read some books!