Released in 2012, the British-American film is an anomaly in the usual film repertoire. Director Bart Layton created a project that is not entirely documentary, but also not quite a game. The denouement of the film “Impostor” (English The Imposter) is known initially, but the intrigue does not let go until the very end credits.
The truth is somewhere near...
The narrative of the picture is based on the story of the French impostor-adventurer Frederic Bourdin, who in 1997 pretended to be an American teenager Nicholas Barkley who disappeared in 1994 at the age of thirteen. In the picture, real characters harmoniously get along with the actors playing them. Rating of the painting IMDb: 7.50, reviews of the film "Impostor" received exclusively laudatory. The premiere of the tape took place at the Sundance festival. The picture was recognized as the most fascinating and frightening film of 2012, encouraging to realize what is hidden behind the hysterical headlines of the tabloids.
Short storyline
Retelling the plot of the film "Impostor", you can not be afraid of spoilers, since everything is clear already by the subtitle, and what is not clear, is explained in the first minutes of timing by the main character. Frenchman Frederick used to wander around European shelters, successfully pretending to be a teenager. For this "bad" habit, he became the target of Interpol. Once, once in a Spanish receiver, among minors, he decides on a colossal hoax.
Frederick decides to take an amazing chance by posing as the missing American teenager Nicholas Barkley. He saw a photograph of a fair-haired, blue-eyed Texan on wanted announcements, and the dream of well-being, family happiness of life in San Antonio in southern Texas immediately loomed before the young man.
Entertaining fusion of documentary and feature films
Formally, the film “Impostor” (2012) is really a documentary project, and it’s very competently built. The narrative is saturated with perfectly enduring teleformat interviews. The director does not ignore the voice-over text, which creates the illusion of accuracy and reliable transparency. Here the main character explains in detail why he, who spoke English without a Texas accent of a dark-skinned brunette, was mistaken for a blond southerner. By the way, a simple list of swindler tricks is able to confuse the viewer.
Immediately the inconsolable mother of the missing American teenager openly wonders why she refused to conduct a DNA test that would definitely establish whether the guy who came from Spain was really her blood.
Here is something suspicious sister Nick, who nevertheless warmly greeted Frederick even after a warning conversation with the authorities. Gradually, almost a documentary about Frederick Bourdain turns into an adventurous psychological thriller.
Adventure Thriller
For escalation of suspense, the director of the film “Impostor” alternates fragments of interviews with archived video recordings, clippings from filming of television shows and episodes played out by actors. For Bart Layton, this format is not innovative, in his filmography there is already a documentary series "Misfortunes Abroad" telling how tourists end up in prisons abroad.
As if to amuse himself, the director inserts episodes of cinematic policemen answering phone calls when the main character tells how he searched for the necessary information and phoned the police participants all over the United States. Critics in reviews of the movie The Impostor emphasize that the drama of the narrative is fueled by musical accompaniment by Ann Nikitina and meaningful pauses.
Layton wisely stretches the timing to a full meter, slowly leading those who look to each plot twist. Key in the story are the last thirty minutes. A private investigator can not do without espionage and murder. The FBI agent is trying to discover the logic and secret intent in the actions of the heroes. The family is on the verge of hysteria. And only the key character, ignoring obvious problems with self-identification, understands exactly what he is doing and why. The story underlying the film The Impostor (2012) is, without exaggeration, worthy of the Cohen brothers.
Genre Policy
Almost immediately, the viewer begins to suspect that the real boy most likely died long ago. This is evidenced by statistics, policemen sympathizing with the family are keeping silent about this, but, it seems, the relatives are also aware of this. Why then do they believe the cheeky cheater? Why they do not want to accept and advertise a truth that has long been understood even by a private investigator from boredom comparing photos of auricles. The director does not give an answer to this question.
The film, swelling from similar regularly repeated questions, is deformed. In the beginning, pretending to be almost horror, the tape takes on the scale of a damn serious thriller. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to unambiguously determine the genre of the film “Impostor”. Simply put, it’s like the “Child of Darkness” by Jaume Colet-Serra mixed with Alfred Hitchcock's “Strangers on the Train” and then diluted with Ben Affleck's film, “Farewell, baby, goodbye.”
The superiority of faith over reality
A person often believes only what he wants to believe in, for example, ears, eyes, newspapers, television reports, other people's statements. Therefore, according to reviewers in the reviews of the film “Impostor,” the interviews and video documents in Bart Layton’s work so harmoniously coexist with brightly set scenes of reconstruction of events.
At a certain moment, it begins to seem that this movie is also about the viewer's faith in the magic of the screen. And about the nature of this faith. The events of impudent reincarnation are recreated with all sorts of genre cliches: a lonely telephone box in the pouring rain; police lanterns cutting through the darkness of the night; a stranger hiding his face under the hood; hefty SUVs on a deserted highway, wide hall of an American school; yellow school bus waiting for a late student. Everything is like in famous films.
An actor portraying Frederick slowly floats into the frame, he plunges into the familiar cinematic reality, which can easily fool the viewer in the same way that he fools his imaginary family. There is no truth, there is only faith.
Criticism
The Bart Layton project has been universally recognized by film critics around the world, it has 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Film experts called the picture more creepy than “How I was friends on a social network” by the creative directorial tandem of G. Just and E. Shulman, and many times more cinematic than the Oscar-winning “The Man on the Rope” by James Marsh.
Authors of the reviews were inclined to position the immaculately told, unnerving story as the best documentary of 2012. Filmmakers were unanimous in their opinions and appreciation of the picture. They emphasized that Layton’s film is breathtaking, like a model thriller that makes you nervous.
Awards
Evidence that the positive reviews of the movie The Impostor (2012) were justified can be an impressive list of awards that the project was awarded.
Only in the year of the premiere, he won the main prize of the international festival in Miami, the nomination of the festival of the independent film "Sundance", the prize of the Canadian International Documentary Film Festival. The film went through a rigorous official selection of most international film festivals, including New Zealand, Sydney, San Sebastian and Edinburgh.
A significant achievement of Leighton’s brainchild should also be considered the six British Independent Film Awards in the nominations under the heading “Best”: directorial debut, film, director, technical achievements, editing and achievement in the field of film production.
The film appeared in the extended list of applicants for the Oscar, but the coveted figurine was never received. But of the two nominations for BAFTA awards, he won in the category "For the best debut of a British director, screenwriter or producer."
Most prominent artists of our time highly recommend it for viewing.