El impostor

I watched a documentary the other day where the access was so good and the story so engaging that I had to check the thing was not a scripted drama; with The Imposter I had a similar feeling and had only just finished it when I took to the internet to verify that the whole story was not made up. I confirmed that this was not the case and in fairness if you tried to write this story as fiction, nobody would buy it as too much of it would be laughed out of the room as absurd or so unlikely as to be impossible. I shan't say too much but essentially this is the story of a Frenchman in his early 20's who is in Spain and claims to be a boy who went missing a few years earlier as a 13 or 14 year old in San Antonio, Texas. Despite being older, having a French accent, not having the same color eyes or hair, his claim sees the missing boy's sister coming across to Europe, greeting him with open arms and returning him to his home in the US. And it should tell you a lot that this is where the story really starts.

As a story it is hard to believe and on this level it is engaging because it is so fantastical that you cannot stop following it but it still needs to be delivered well – just because you have a good story doesn't make you a good story-teller. In this case though the film does a great job from start to finish. Interviews, reconstructions and archive footage are all used very well to slowly build the story and follow it to the conclusion. It is filmed in a very cinematic way, with effects of thrillers and a sinister air to it that I thought might be a bit forced but actually worked very well indeed – the cinematography of the reconstructions and the clever editing of the interviews into the film really worked to the film's benefit. The contributors are mostly engaging and quite open – in particular "The Imposter" himself is a real presence in the film, we may not really understand him (or any of them really) but his contributions really helps us get inside the story.

That the Imposter is a great story is one thing, but this film tells it very well indeed. It has weaknesses when it comes to understanding the characters but the thriller-approach works and drives the story forward in a manner that is satisfying and engaging. Excellent documentary.

'The Imposter (2012)' is one of those movies that you really need to see to believe. As such, I'll try my very best to avoid spoiling even its most basic story beats. Still, I'd advise not reading further if you intend on watching the piece, which I highly recommend you do, because it feels as though the less you know, the more potent the experience will be. That said, the documentary tells an almost unbelievable tale that kicks off with a missing child and only gets stranger and sadder from there. It's very forthcoming with its first major twist, opting to reveal the nature of its eponymous imposter surprisingly early. Rather than use it for a shock later down the line, it uses it to drown the entire affair in dramatic irony. This choice transforms the piece from focusing on what its central con is, to how that con was even successful in the first place. It allows the flick to ruminate on some interesting themes of deception, perception and ignorance. It's never as straightforward as you think and it still provides plenty of powerful twists and turns, despite the fact that what could have been its most major one is - as I mentioned - laid bare almost as soon as the thing starts. The film plays out a bit like the con it retells, allowing some of its subjects to manipulate the audience just as they manipulated people in real life. For the most part, it remains neutral and allows its viewers to make up their own minds. Because of the ever-shifting nature of the story, that isn't as simple as it would first seem. You're likely to be turning the plot over in your mind long after the inevitability unsatisfying conclusion has been and gone. The piece does end on a pretty damning statement from its eponymous trickster, which almost solidifies its (or, rather, its makers') true feelings towards its subject matter and yet doesn't feel like a betrayal of the flick's otherwise distant approach. The film really is captivating. It's actually, if you'll pardon the cliché, stranger than fiction; if it were a traditional film, you'd accuse its plot of being too unbelievable. It's an entertaining and well-executed documentary that makes excellent use of surprisingly formalistic recreations and effectively candid 'talking head' segments. At the end of the day, it portrays a really sad situation and it doesn't even pretend to provide an answer to the most burning question it raises. It's an accomplished piece of work. 7/10.

Stranger than fiction true-life documentary of the opportunistic and heartless identity-theft by a mature 23 year old French nationality homeless man who, after being picked up on the street in Limares, Spain assumed the identity of a young boy who had disappeared three years ago aged 13 from his home in Texas.

The perpetrator, one Frederic Bourdin, randomly picked his new identity from a file of international missing persons whilst in police custody, although you would think he could have done a better job of it as he was at the time six years older than the boy Nicholas Barclay he chose to impersonate, had a different hair colour and spoke with a pronounced accent, never mind being separated by the Atlantic Ocean, but preying on a family elated at the prospect of the miraculous reappearance of their long lost son, he ran the whole nine yards in the role before finally a doctor's testimony put a stop to the charade and eventually saw Bourdin go to jail, leaving behind a family now heartbroken a second time and a host of incredulous officials duped by his brazen callowness.

Like a dark version of the Emperor's New Clothes, this is a story of a desperate family seeing what wasn't there and believing the impossible through the blinding distortion of their individual and collective grief. It all really starts with the boy's sister who flies to Spain and immediately falls for her long-lost brother's incredible return from the dead, swallowing whole his explanations for his changes of appearance, voice and character. Bourdin, now spying a life of ease in America as the pampered born-again son, had decided to follow through with the ruse, dying his hair blond, adding a few tattoos and concocting a fantastical story of being kidnapped and transported abroad to a life as a sex-slave with the so-called gang even managing to conveniently change his eye-colour in the process.

There's no question of the film-maker here attempting some is-he-or-isn't-he mystery, as the film's title makes clear, confirmed by Bourdin's first smirking, unrepentant appearance. The key events in the fraud are recreated dramatically and interspersed with interviews of all the major players in this unbelievable story set to a deliberately light, capering musical soundtrack which itself from the first strongly hints at the elusiveness and illusion at the heart of this incredible story.

In the end Bourdin got jailed for six years, the missing boy's hapless family saw their hopes of his resurrection brutally dashed and of course, his abduction and likely murder returned to the files of the unexplained and unsolved.

I came away from the film with a sense of how the power of loss, especially that of a child, can so blind a family which had given up hope and a sense of rage at the heartless selfishness of a still apparently unapologetic sick individual who even today diverts blame back to the trusting family who took him in.

Pity help the wife and three children the film tells us in an epilogue he lives with today.

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadger

Word of Warning: I would recommend going into this film completely blind. Watching this film with no information about it is the best way to see it.

The story is extremely gripping. This documentary/mystery film is full of twists, real life sadness, and a powerful story. It leaves you with many unanswered questions, but does so in a way that leaves you tingling in contemplation. The plot can be disturbing to some and at times it can be quite scary.

The acting and storytelling is fluent. Most of the acting is done by people who had first hand accounts of the real life story. Some of the acting is reenacted which brings some depth and suspense to the story. The twist is very unexpected and it is deal with care.

The tone throughout the film is very dark. There are moments that send chills down your spine.

The pacing is okay but there are parts in the film that seemed out of place. In the beginning, I found myself getting lost in all the things that were going on.

Pros: Great story, amazing twist, unanswered questions, powerful storytelling, consistent tone, and strong first hand accounts in regard to the story

Cons: Okay pacing and some moments that were a bit confusing

Overall Rating: 8.2

P.S. If you enjoyed this film, you might also enjoy Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008). It is a documentary film that has the same mix of drama and crime.

I saw this film at the 2012 Edinburgh Film Festival. The film focuses on the story of Nicholas Barclay who disappeared from his Texas home in 1994. Three years later he's found in France and then re-united with his parents. But it's obvious he cannot be there son. He's an impostor; a 23 year old con-artist. The film explores the unravelling of this story through interviews and very well realised reconstructions of the events. Documentary recreations don't always work and can detract from the interviews but here they work very well.It makes for a strange and compelling film. A deliberation on the nature of truth and lies that had me completely gripped.