Breaking the Code

I had never heard of Alan Turing, the mathematical genius behind the cracking of the German's `Enigma Code' during World War II, despite the fact that he was also heavily involved in the invention of the digital computer.

And I was amazed to learn from this excellent biography of Turing (who should surely be remembered as a `celebrity scientist' in the Einstein class) that the reason for his burial by the British establishment is the simple matter of his sexuality. Yes, Turing was gay in an era when homosexuality was not only unfashionable but indeed illegal!

Apart from the intrinsic interest of the subject, `Breaking the Code' is illuminated by a superb performance from Derek Jacobi (with a hint of his 'I Claudius' stammer) who brilliantly conveys not only Turing's fierce intelligence but also his enthusiasm for his discipline and his need to pass on this passion to his colleagues.

Supporting roles are well cast and played with playwright and sometime actor Harold Pinter not out of place beside veterans Richard Johnson and Prunella Scales but Jacobi's tour-de-force is the thing.

I hope I have encouraged you to see this British made-for-tv movie if you get a chance.

It all goes to show the power of Hollywoodification and some star glitz. I have just come here from submitting a review of Moore's "The Imitation Game", which I thought a fairly pathetic excuse of a historical drama, with some scenes at the level of adolescent petulance. Yet this movie currently enjoys an overall reviewer rating of 8.0, greater than the 7.3 provided by a mere 10 users to "Breaking the Code". Well let me set the record straight that Breaking the Code may have been "just" a TV movie, and it may not have had an all-star cast, and it may not have contained ludicrous histrionics obviously fabricated by a facile writer, and it may not have been pushed upon the world with the full power of Hollywood's promotional machine. But for all that, it is a far, far better drama. It portrays Turing credibly, it describes how Enigma was broken in a simplified, but sensible way, it shows with sensitivity the effect on Turing of prosecution for homosexuality. The Imitation Game has 719 user reviews, Breaking the Code has 11, including mine (shaking head with disgust).

Based on the book, "The Enigma Of Intelligence", this film has to be one of the best scientific biopics ever made, either for TV or the silver screen.

It manages to cover both the personal and scientific side of Turing's life, without becoming a documentary. Jacobi's performance is first rate (he was awarded for this film), and so are the supporting cast.

Unfortunately, many of the earlier aspects of Turing's life have to left out, due to time constraints.

If you enjoyed this film, then I heartily recommend you read the source book, which is also one of the best biographies going.

Anyone working, or involved with computers, should see this film, and the shabby way the British establishment treated the most important computer scientist since Babbage (sorry Noam).

Although excellent drama in its own right, with stellar acting and directing, the film is also one of the few insightful portrayals of creative genius. The film gets it all right, from depictions of Turing's precocious (yet difficult) boyhood, to accounts of the actual creative process. This is a must see film.

This curious telemovie has a number of fierce devotees, including some who insist it's a better account of Alan Turing than the seriously over-hyped Hollywood version, The Imitation Game. In fact, it's a fairly unimaginative adaptation of a ponderous and often clunky stage play, and one that hasn't dated at all well. The chief virtue is supposedly Derek Jacobi's performance as Turing, but, truth be told, Jacobi - accomplished and committed as he is to the role - is as far from the real Turing as Cumberbatch's mannered, showy turn in Imitation Game. For one thing, Jacobi is as unlike Turing physically as it's possible to be. He's also twenty years older than Turing was when he died, and nearly twice the age Turing was when he was code-breaking at Bletchley Park. Ultimately, both versions make less of Turing's contribution to computing and code-breaking than they should. Where Imitation Game becomes preoccupied with manufacturing a romance with Joan Clarke that never was, Breaking The Code makes Turing's homosexuality THE BIG PROBLEM in a way that renders him tortured and tragic. In fact, Turing never was tortured about his sexuality; he was open and unapologetic in ways that were well ahead of his time. Even ahead of the prevailing attitudes in this 1980s telling of his tale. And yet, when it matters most the teleplay makes very little of the impact Turing's conviction for indecent acts had on his professional and personal life. It also fails to make much of the nature of his death (suicide, some say murder), which one would have thought was a gift to any dramatist. Overall, Breaking The Code is not so offensively phoney has The Imitation Game, but more or less equally unsatisfying. A definitive film biography of Turing is remains to be made.