During World War II, the allies captured an enigma decoder that the Germans used to transmit and receive encrypted messages. Alan Turing was recruited to help break the encryption. Turing was a genius with zero people skills and came off as an ass to his coworkers.
The story is about how Turing creates a machine to crack the enigma code. The other part of the story is the unfortunate way he was treated because he was a homosexual.
It's estimated that Turing's machine shortened the war by two years and saved 14 million lives. (not sure where these numbers came from but keep in mind Germany's secret weapons program and that the United States and Russia's best rocket scientists came from Germany) Also keep in mind that the allies new everything Germany was going to do for the final two years of the war because they had cracked the encryption but had to keep it secret and pick and choose when to use the information in order to not let the Germans know they had cracked it.
Alan Turing was as smart as we humans come. He's the single most important person behind shortening the war and saving millions of lives and his own country treated him like shit simply because he was a homosexual. This man is considered the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. I'd say that's a pretty big fucking deal for both World War II and the 60+ years since.
His machine generated a whole field of research into what became known as "Turing Machines". Today we call them "computers".
9/10Do you know, this morning I was on a train that went through a city that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you. I bought a ticket from a man who would likely be dead if it wasn't for you. I read up, on my work, a whole field of scientific inquiry that only exists because of you. Now, if you wish you could have been normal... I can promise you I do not. The world is an infinitely better place precisely because you weren't.
The Imitation Game - Official Trailer
If I had a vote, my Oscar nod would go to Benedict Cumberbatch for his portrayal of Alan Turing.
When you have the opportunity, watch the movie.