MovieChat Forums > The Imposter (2012) Discussion > Bourdin's hesitancy *spoilers*

Bourdin's hesitancy spoilers

posted 12 years ago by minorchord
4 replies | jump to latest

I really enjoyed this documentary, but in thinking it over just now, I'm starting to wonder about Bourdin's hesitancy in becoming Nicholas Barclay when he's first coming up with the idea. We're led to believe during the whole first 30 minutes that he's making this up as he goes along and that he sincerely doubts he'd be able to get away with it.

Towards the end of the movie, we learn that Bourdin has been doing this for years and has done dozens or hundreds of other similar identity hijackings.

Does that mean that his initial hesitancy and reluctance is scripted (or that Bourdin is deceiving us), or was he unsure because of the specific task of turning into a blonde-haired, blue-eyed American boy seven years younger than he is? He's a seasoned professional at this point of his life, but we're being fed the idea that he's almost doing this whole operation on a whim and doesn't know if he'll be successful or not.

The other part that bothered me is that when the sister came to Spain to get Nicholas, he had dyed his hair blonde at that point. It was only then that he started wearing the hat, but anyone at the children's hospital who had seen him must have noticed that he had dyed his hair blonde at that point. Was this not a concern or worth mentioning?

Overall though, great film and interesting story. Really tragic, though.

[–] telesoul 12 years ago

About your last point, I had the exact same qualm as you. Not only the hospital, but all the child services/embassy officials who had taken part in organizing the effort to verify his identity you'd think would find it interesting that he magically dyed his hair and changed his appearance just in time for his reunion with family. I figure some would have explained it away as an insecure guy dealing with his identity and maybe wanting to go back to how he used to look (presumably he would have said his hair was dyed darker by the people holding him captive and he was just going back to his natural color).

As for his hesitancy, IIRC the other kids he impersonated were European. I forget why he wanted to be an American but I'm sure being a career criminal he realized the implications of going across the pond for a target. Even having done it before he must have realized that when the FBI is involved it's gonna ramp up. Add to that the entirely different culture and manner of speaking between the US and Europe in general and I don't think it's unrealistic that the challenge felt new and he would be nervous.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Karantino 12 years ago

I wondered those same things too. He's most definitely an unreliable narrator. By the end, I was questioning what everyone said. It's a compelling story.

[–] sirmildredpierce 11 years ago

It wasn't until this episode that he struck upon the idea to take on someone else's identity. Up until then he had simply been concocting new identities mainly so he could be put in to homeless shelters and schools. After he gets out of prison he tries to continue his new con by taking on the identity of missing children.