In 1982, a French film starring Gérard Depardieu told the story of The Return of Martin Guerre. Based on a real event and trial in the 16th century,
Martin Guerre returned home from war and lived comfortably with his peasant
wife. Eventually the real Martin Guerre returned and the wife was revealed to
have lied that the man she now lived with was her husband.
The story later
became the basis for Sommersby (1993), with Richard Gere and Jody Foster, reset
in the Civil War period. The situation has always been a compelling storyline
for me.
Ironically, a year after Sommersby came out, on June 11, 1994,
blonde haired, blue eyed 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay disappeared in San Antonio, Texas, after playing
basketball with friends. For three years the family had
no news. In 1997, the mother received a call from Spain saying that her son had
been found. Her daughter goes to Spain and brings back Nicholas, but is it
Nicholas?
We learn at the beginning of Brad Layton’s documentary that
23-year-old Frederic Bourdin is an imposter. He explains the why and how he was
able to convince a family that he was their lost 16 year-old-child, in spite of
having a French accent, dark brown hair and brown eyes. Not only does he fool
the family, he fools the U.S. authorities and news organizations. The new
Nicholas tends to hide in hoodies and scarves and hats. He doesn’t talk a lot.
Eventually when pressed by authorities he weaves a long involved narrative
about being kidnapped by a gang of military officers who kidnap children for
child prostitution.
It is only after
several months that a detective comes forward and proves by the shape of
Bourdin’s ears that Bourdin can’t be Nicholas.
But the biggest question of the film, however, is still not yet
answered. Why would a family take in a stranger and claim he was their son.
What secret are they hiding? And what, if anything, does it have anything to do
with the eldest son, a drug addict who overdosed shortly after Nicholas’ return?
Using well crafted re-enactments and interviews with the people
involved, the film is a thriller from the opening as we learn more and more
about Bourdin and his quirks and layer those things with what we learn about
Nicholas and his family. This is as compelling as Martin Guerre’s story. The documentary has the same impact for me as Catfish (2010).
The only bizarre choice of the director comes early on when Bourdin is given the opportunity to call several American police stations to figure out who he is going to impersonate. The director uses clips from television programs Starsky and Hutch, McCloud, and Kojak. I kept asking WTF? Luckily the story becomes so well told that this misstep is easily forgotten.
Don’t miss it. [Just let me know what you think.]
The Imposter (2012) *****
