What's The Real Story Behind His New Movie?

The man who plays Sherlock Holmes is cracking another case in his latest film. Benedict Cumberbatch will star in new historical film The Imitation Game as Alan Turing, a mathematician secretly working for the British government during World War II. His ability to decipher intercepted Nazi messages helped the Allies defeat the Nazis in several key battles, ultimately leading to the Allied victory. Though Turing played a crucial role in history, his story has long been ignored. Turing's tale with finally be told with The Imitation Game — unfortunately, it won't make up for the injustice that this brilliant man was served after World War II.

According to Biography, the London-born Turing studied mathematics and cryptology at Princeton University before returning to his home country in 1938, just before the outbreak of World War II. He took a position at the Government Code and Cipher School, While there, he made five major advancements in the field of cryptanalysis. Perhaps Turing's most notable achievement — and the one that is hinted at in the trailer for The Imitation Game — is the breaking of the Enigma code, a code used by the Nazis to transport war information. Turing and his group at the GCCS cracked Enigma through the use of computing devices, allowing the Allies to gain an upper-hand on the Nazis.

Turing should have been regarded as a war hero, but due to the sensitivity of the work at the GCCS, no one could know about his hand in cracking Enigma. Unfortunately, his lack of recognition wasn't the first injustice he was served. Turing, a gay man, was prosecuted for "gross indecency" in 1952 after admitting to the police that he had a sexual relationship with the man who had broke into his home. The charge lost Turing his security clearance — he was unable to work for the government. In addition, he was forced to undergo hormonal therapy, an experience that was most humiliating and physically painful. He was found dead of cyanide poisoning two years later, his death was ruled a suicide.

Turing received an official apology by then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009, who called Turing's prosecution "appalling," and later a royal pardon from the Queen. However, perhaps the greatest "justice" (if you can even really call it that) for the war hero will come with his new biopic. Turing deserves for his story to be told — through this new film, perhaps it will.

Check out the trailer below.

The Imitation Game hits theaters November 14, 2014.