However, as luck would have it, Frédéric was embraced as a part of the Barclay family and for 4.5 months was taken care of in San Antonio, as their lost-and-found son, Nicholas. With the arrival of Carey (Anna Ruben) in Spain to pick up Nicholas, Frédéric was convinced that she would not see her brother in him. The extent to which dark-haired and brown-eyed Frédéric Bourdin recreates the distinguishing characteristics of blue-eyed and blonde-haired Nicholas is unnerving to think about, especially the three matching tattoos he got T on his left hand between his thumb and forefinger, J on his left shoulder, and an L and N on the outside of his left ankle. To give himself a chance of becoming a new person, with a different face, name, and security of a loving family and home, he searched through the US missing person’s list in the police station database and chose Nicholas Barclay.įrom this very decision, the film unravels into chaos which impacts significantly on each of the Barclay family members and the memory of their son, Nicholas. The imposter explained his demeanour by stating, “For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be someone else, someone who was acceptable”. In order to successfully prove to the police he was a missing juvenile, Frédéric covered himself with layers, upon layers of clothing, with a hat and scarf to conceal his face, and created barriers of verbal and physical contact to prevent the authorities from identification.Īttempting to impersonate someone else completely is not exactly an easy task although for Frédéric it was either steal the identity of a young missing person or be put in jail and beaten for perjury. In order to understand how ‘The Imposter’came to be, we see the real Frédéric Bourdin talking us through his actions as a younger boy, performed by Adam O’Brian. The film progresses cleverly by rewinding back to the opening scene, of a young boy hiding in a telephone booth and the voiceover of the concerned man who called the police station. In 1997, the Barclay family receive news of Nicholas being discovered in Spain, resulting in a chain of mixed emotions from anticipation to bewilderment for sister, Carey Gibson, brother-in-law, Bryan Gibson and mother, Beverly Dollarhide. As with most drama documentaries, each family member speaks separately to the audience to provide a sense of intimacy and realism. On-screen text introduces the audience to the case in 1994, 13 year old Nicholas Barclay disappeared from San Antonio, Texas. The film begins with a recording of Nicholas, who is filming his sister Carey’s room before showing the birthday girl and himself on camera. Does ‘The Imposter’ excel beyond a dramatic biography or give the audience further insight into the famous French serial imposter? The film challenges the well-known case by providing evidence to support the imposter, Frédéric Bourdin, and the Barclay family’s recollection of events. Bart Layton directs this documentary exploring the 1994 case of missing 13yr old Nicholas Barclay in San Antonio, Texas, who was ‘discovered’ 3 years and four months later in Linares, Spain. The Imposter conveys a true and disturbing story of how identities can change people in terms of their perception and imagined reality.
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