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 Nominated for eight Oscars on Feb. 22, "The Imitation Game"
tells the story of mathematician Alan Turing, who worked with a
secret group of government cryptologists during World War Two to
break Nazi Germany's wartime code and saved countless lives.
Turing, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, went uncredited for his
work and instead was persecuted on charges of homosexuality, a
crime in 1952, and died a broken man in 1954. He was
posthumously pardoned in 2013 by Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
The film, distributed by The Weinstein Co, has sparked off a
petition by the Human Rights Campaign, an organizing advocating
for equal rights for the LGBT community, to pardon some 49,000
homosexual men charged under Britain's gross indecency law that
was repealed in 2003.
It has attracted more than 330,000 signatures including
Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, who plays female mathematician
Joan Clarke, as well as notable CEOs including Google's Eric
Schmidt and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer.
"Alan's own treatment by history had been so unfair," said
Graham Moore, Oscar-nominated for his "Imitation Game" script.
"We always hoped we could create a dialogue around these issues
of the treatment of gay men in society, about the historical
persecution reaped upon them, and getting to be a part of these
kinds of conversations is even more important."
Made for a budget of $33 million, according to BoxOffice.com,
"The Imitation Game" has grossed more than $155 million
worldwide since its November release.
It earned Oscar nods for Cumberbatch, Knightley, director Morten
Tyldum and the coveted best picture prize, where it will contend
against frontrunners "Birdman" and "Boyhood."
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Tyldum, the Norwegian director of 2011's "Headhunters," said while
Scandinavian filmmakers such as himself hone their talents on
American genre films, they bring a fresh aesthetic for underdogs
such as Turing to Hollywood films.
"We're very skeptical of people who are too perfect. We like flawed
people," Tyldum said. "The more shaded, flawed characters that are
struggling, I think there's something very relatable about that."
Much of the film focuses on Cumberbatch's portrayal of Turing's
nuances, vulnerabilities and strengths as an outcast among his
peers.
Both Tyldum and Moore, who won best adapted screenplay at Saturday's
Writers Guild Awards, faced initial concerns from film financiers
that a film about an unknown historical figure who commits suicide
would be marketable to audiences.
"I love when people say 'Imitation Game' is such a crowd pleaser,"
Tyldum said. "Yes, it's a crowd pleaser but the guy kills himself.
We've achieved something, it's a beautiful challenge."
Moore said he relished the challenge of making "an unmakeable
project."
"The whole goal of the film was to bring Alan Turing's story to a
crowd that wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to his life and his
work and his person."
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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