One rainy autumn evening in 1997, a call rang at the Spanish Linares police department. A couple of tourists were alarmed to find a frightened guy in a phone booth. The patrol that arrived on call transported the young man to a local shelter, where after much questioning by investigators he admitted that he was an American, kidnapped from his home, subjected to sexual violence for several years, and now miraculously escaping from his tormentors. In the morning he introduced himself as Nicholas Barkley. Spanish police contacted their American colleagues and found out that three and a half years ago, a 13-year-old boy with the same name actually disappeared in the Texas town of San Antonio. His sister Kelly urgently flew to Linares. And although the guy she saw had a different hair and eye color, she recognized him as her brother. And she explained the gaps in his memory as psychological trauma from the abuse he experienced in captivity. However, the FBI and a retired detective from San Antonio refused to believe this fantastic story. After conducting independent investigations, they proved that the person posing as Nicholas is a fraudster. True, this happened almost a year later, which Frederic Bourdin (that was the real name of the 25-year-old rogue) spent safely in his new family.

"The Imposter" is a documentary film, but it was created by British director Bart Layton according to the laws of a psychological thriller. It has its own suspense and unexpected plot twists, there is its own mystery, alas, never solved, and a lot of subtle psychological observations. Finally, there is an extraordinary hero. Frederic Bourdin, now a completely ordinary man in the street, the father of two children, in his youth carried out similar operations, posing as someone else and infiltrating other people’s families, almost three dozen times. Of course, for this it was necessary to have considerable artistry and talent as a psychologist. But no less interesting in “The Impostor” is the study of the mechanisms of self-deception. In the end, the director seems to come to the conclusion that the victim of manipulation is the one who stops analyzing reality and is too susceptible to illusions.

Magazine "Kommersant Weekend" (Ukraine) No. 10 dated January 25, 2013, page 14

Themes:

Weekend Magazine. Category "Poster"

“Impostor” – Weekend Ukraine – Kommersant