Movie Preview by Rodger Gallagher
This unique film walks the razor’s edge between true-crime documentary and stylish noir mystery covering the exploits of Frédéric Bourdin- the French serial impostor nicknamed “The Chameleon”. A classic mystery revolving around crime, family, deceit and the slippery nature of truth, the difference here is that it all really happened. That is why this riveting story inspired British filmmaker Bart Layton to push this non-fiction film into fresh territory, fusing the investigative spirit of a documentary with the breakneck pacing and atmosphere of a psychological thriller. The film hooks you with its twists, turns and tantalizing questions of who to believe . . . and why. And this is no doubt why it won the grand jury prize at last year’s Miami Film Festival and was a favourite in the 2012 New Zealand Film Festival.
“The creepy pleasure is all in the getting there. This film is the summer’s wickedest thrill.” Auckland Herald 5/5
The tale begins with an unsettling disappearance, that of Nicholas Barclay, a 13 year-old boy from Texas who vanishes without a trace. Three and a half years later, staggering news arrives: the boy has been found, thousands of miles from home in Spain, saying he survived a mind-boggling ordeal of kidnap and torture by shadowy captors. His family is ecstatic to have him back no matter how strange the circumstances but things become far stranger once he returns to Texas.
Though the family accepts him, suspicion surrounds the person who claims to be Nicholas. How could the Barclay’s blonde, blue-eyed son have returned with darker skin and eyes? How could his personality and even accent have changed so profoundly? And if this person who has arrived in Texas isn’t the Barclay’s missing child . . . who on earth is he? And what really happened to Nicholas?
The Imposter (M) on at the Old School, Stewart St, Saturday 16 February 8pm and Sunday 17 February 4.30pm