Wednesday 5 September 2012

The Imposter (2012)


This really is an incredible story, but then often the most amazing stories are true.  This one is about a French guy by the name of Frédéric Bourdin, who is a serial identity thief.  In this case he pretends to be an American kid called Nicholas Barclay, a boy who went missing from Texas three years ago. Despite being  in Spain, Frédéric finds out that an American family are looking for a lost child and so he poses as Nicholas.  The most amazing thing is that the family take him in, so desperate are they to find Nicholas!  No matter how crazy it is that Frédéric pretends to be Nicholas, it's very weird that the family take him in - no questions asked!

The film is shot as a documentary but there are sections of drama which are often seamlessly merged into the documentary sections.  Director Bart Layton also makes tremendous use of light; whether it is dawn over San Antonio, light shining through blinds and showing the passage of time, or simply dramatic sunlight through oppressive cloudy skies.  This all adds up to a movie that is more than just a documentary, it looks stunning too.  Definitely worth seeing; a film in the mould of Catfish, but  better looking.

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad you liked this, although I haven't seen a bad review yet. I didn't think to mention the light but you're right it does add something else to the incredible story.

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    1. Cheers Tom; it just really struck me how beautiful it was for a documentary.

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