Review of The Imposter (2012) by Pragyan T — 11 Sep 2013

It was 2011. I had a serious knack of spending hours in front of my laptop screen, reading epubs of True Crimes. Now, I don't do that because I am no longer a zombie and believe me, the pulp is an appropriate cure for reddish eyes.

There was this particular book though, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes written by David Grann, an American crime reporter. The book was collection of his previously published investigational reports and one particular article titled The Chameleon, the many lives of Frederic Bourdin, narrates a real gripping episode of a 23 year old French-Algerian man named Frederic Bourdin who successfully posed as a 16 year old American boy. After reading this piece I went on to elaborately describe the events of the story to all of my friends. But they completely disagreed with me, claiming I made the whole thing up to brag about my knack of reading True Crimes. I even gave them the book to read, which I think no one read. So that was it.

Then came: THE IMPOSTER.

I was aware that many Hollywood Production houses were keen in turning Bourdin's story into a movie and also a French adaptation of the story- which was seriously panned by critics as well as audiences- failed to make any impression. However, Bart Layton's documentary The Imposter is something very unusual. Unusual indeed for a documentary as it is treated as a psychological thriller with shrewd elements of a noir mystery.

I have a confession. I absolutely hate documentaries. They are monotonous, slow and a real mind-numbing experience. The last documentary that I successfully watched till the end was Exit through the Gift Shop. The Imposter, however, has rejuvenated my stance on documentaries.

The Imposter caters the story of Frederic Bourdin, a master of disguises, who enters the United States pretending to be a 16 year old Nicholas Barclay who has been missing for three and a half years. And what's more intriguing is that the Barclay family instantly accepts Bourdin as their missing son.

Bart Layton's documentary is a blend of confessional interviews of Bourdin and the Barclay family members. Officials and investigators, tugged to this strange case of deluded identity theft, also clarify their testaments throughout the movie. The director's intention to present everyone's version of the story has made the narrative more organic and realistic. Although, I was acquainted with the whole case beforehand, while watching the film I stopped pondering over the details. Here, I noticed the true genius of Layton. He takes this well known case and turns it into something unpredictable and layered. It's a fun ride even for people who are familiar with the case.

The Imposter clutches themes of identity, truth and perception. I haven't seen elusiveness of truth being treated with such delicacy in any film until the Imposter. This engaging true-crime mystery portrays people who construct their own realities and it is the audiences who have to consider whose version of the story is correct. Thus, the Climax asks us to make our own conclusion.

A quote by Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) in The Talented Mr. Ripley sums up this film:

"I always thought it would be better, to be a fake somebody... than a real nobody".