The Imposter - Film Review

The Imposter - Film Review

Post
Subscribe

Posted 2012-09-15 by David Dragonettifollow


How far do we go for love? What wouldn't we do to feel a warm embrace and to know we are wanted. Thankfully very few of us would commit a crime and it's extremely unlikely any would change their appearance, devise a fantastic cover story lie about their age and claim to be the missing son of a family 8000 miles away on a different continent.

But that precisely is what 23 year old French man Frederic Bourdin did. Gripping from start to finish with a new problem or twist seemingly at every moment of screen time, The Imposter recounts the quite incredible story of one extremely troubled man's journey to find a home a family and ultimately love and acceptance.

After lying about his age to get a place in a Spanish orphanage, Frederic manages to convince a mother in America that he is her son who has been missing for three years, but does she really believe him or is she actually using him to cover up her own crime?

They don't write scripts like The Imposter in Hollywood quite simply because this is one of those instances where reality is indeed mind bogglingly stranger than fiction.

But did this really happen?

I had to ask myself the question on at least two occasions. Yes, it actually did and for a great part of the film, Frederic is speaking directly to camera, recalling how he fooled so many, the FBI and US Customs among others, then to even eventually be awarded with a US passport. Yet despite such superb acting skills, Frederic is a young man who disturbingly displays a complete lack of guilt and contrition at the pain and torment he has caused to a whole family.

Is he therefore simply an evil nasty person? Now that would be very Hollywood to portray him as simply the bad guy. Life of course is rarely so black and white, but a sea of grey and watching The Imposter, you feel that he has wronged so many because there has never been anyone there to give him moral guidance and love
His almost last words in the film are "I don't care about anyone". It's a cry for help. He doesn't care because the world never cared for him and indeed, so inclined is he towards taking his own life, its apparent he doesn't care about his own life either.

With so many awful films out there like The Watch and the bland remake of Total Recall , immerse yourself in a film that makes you think, and which will make most of us grateful we are not unwanted and alone in this world.



#cinema
#film_reviews
#movie_reviews
#august
%wneverywhere
91510 - 2023-06-11 08:40:00

Tags

Music
Free
Arts_culture
Film_tv_reviews
Outdoor
Random
Nightlife
Family_friendly
Festivals
Community
Food_drink
Fundraisers
Educational
Holiday
Markets
Copyright 2022 OatLabs ABN 18113479226