The Imposter

OK. so i gave this movie a ten out of ten... it seeems incredibly high, but i was riveted by this film. the "truths", the reenactments, the acting, the cinematography, the imagination involved... Frederic Bourdin was absolutely compelling. His face is so unbelievably expressive. He could charm the pants off of anyone. it makes you sympathize (almost) with the family. (but not quite. The actor portraying him was fantastic, you could literally hardly tell that it wasn't actually Frederic in the reenactment scenes. It watches like a movie, thriller-style. it will boggle your mind! i've never been so entertained and riveted by a movie in my life. OK i'm gushing. see this Documentary. seek it out. *there is a movie based on the same events, but it is not nearly as compelling (in my opinion) But for those of you who were aching for more once the credits rolled, the title is "the Chameleon". *

The presentation is very well maintained. Story telling is great. This is unbelievable to know this is true incident. Do watch and judge yourself. Master minded.

This seemed like an Almodovar film and I had to keep reminding myself that these were NOt actors but the real people involved in a bizarre story. I was particularly impressed that everyone involved was willing to participate in making this film. The imposter, the victims, the law enforcement personnel. It did not seem as if this had happened sixteen years ago. The imposter has charisma and reminded me of the several characters in Almodovar films. This could easily be remade as a fiction film, but it probably would not be as good.

I was expecting much more from this documentary. Something bad happened to a 13 year old boy and a wanted by Interpol, whack-job French man causes a lot of trouble / grief and gets off way too light IMHO. Some of the stupidity by persons involved in this story will make you want to bang your head against the wall. How did these things actually transpire? Watching all the details about the case and the smugness of this lunatic creep will just tick you off. Not worth your time or the emotional investment.

I found the film dramatic, surprising, clever in its cinematography, thought provoking. So why did I rate it a "1"? I believe the film took unethical advantage of a family that had already suffered enormously from the disappearance of their boy, and portrayed them as exceedingly gullible, stupid and much worse, as possibly covering up their own heinous involvement, highlighting such possibility as real, even though hugely unlikely, but obviously creating effective tension and drama. That's great for a fictional film, beyond disturbing for a documentary.

Frederic Boudin supposedly has a wife and three kids in France. I really feel sorry for the wife and kids, because this woman's husband is a lowlife, and the kids probably believe their father is a good person, which is obviously is not. He is one of the lowest forms of humans on the planet. First, this family suffers a missing person. Then after three years, this lowlife pretends to be the missing boy. The third tragedy is the kind of life that Boudin had to make him into this kind of unfeeling, cold, individual, who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. I will stop short of hoping one of his kids gets kidnapped so he can know how it feels. A very compelling documentary.

This film is exploitative dramatization. I need to write four more lines for this to be submitted. Documentary films should present the facts. People should be allowed to decide for themselves. This film twists and turns a very sad story into something completely detached from reality.

I was very impressed by the affect this documentary had on me. I had never heard of this story in the news and it was a complete shock for me to hear about the events that took place. The most surprising element to the film is the fact that the "imposter" could successfully steal the identity of a missing child. You keep asking yourself how could this happen? How can a family make this mistake? The plot is intense and keeps you guessing "what will happen next?" It has some twists in it that I actually gasped while watching it alone and found my self sitting on the edge of my seat. I would absolutely recommend this documentary to anyone I know. I absolutely loved it. It was disturbing and mysterious on so many levels. It is, undoubtedly, a must-see.