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The Imposter. Unusual and Outrageous Biographical Semidocumentary
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When the French-Algerian Frédéric Bourdin was only 23 years old, he had already had many false identities. Then he decides to steal a personality and be reincarnated as a new person. According to him he needed the love and protection of a family.
Texas, June 1994. Nicholas Barclay disappears. He was 13. Three years after his disappearance, the family receives a phone call informing them that there is a boy in Spain (specifically in Linares) who says he has escaped from a sex trafficking gang and claims to be Nicholas.
Although Bourdin was seven years older than the Texan child, his hair was brown instead of blonde, as Nicholas hair was, his eyes were brown instead of blue and his English had a French accent, he managed to deceive the police, judges, FBI, neighbours and, what's more incredible, the own Nicholas family.
It will not be until a private detective sees him on TV and suspects that he is not the real son that all kinds of tests are done, and the deception is finally discovered. However, the family is not still convinced that the young man who has lived with them during this time is not their missing son. Some people suspect that they were who killed Nicholas.
This final doubt increases the anxiety and confusion of the events that still remains with no answers. Regardless of the inconsistencies in the story which are clear for everybody, we wonder what leads people to lie, feign and deceive in order to avoid a painful reality.
The film is a biographical semidocumentary that mixes narrative voice and interviews with the different characters, the real ones and some actors. Although, at times, it loses some spirit, the unusual and outrageous story keeps the audience perplexed in their chairs.
Texts: Núria Farré. facebook@cinemaperaestudiants.cat
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