preview

The Imposter Film Meaning

Decent Essays

What are the aims and intentions of the director of the film and how have these been achieved?

Bart Layton is the director of the documentary, The Imposter, a story of a 23-year-old man, Frederic Bourdin, who pretends to be a missing child, Nicholas Barclay, who at the time would have been 15. Bart Layton intends to illustrate the amazing story of Frederic Bourdin. He achieves this by manipulating the audience and challenging our perception of truth. Bourdin is the first person in the thriller/documentary hybrid to tell his story. This is very strategic by Layton as it manipulates the audience, as the first time a story is told it becomes the dominant narrative. Bourdin establishes the baseline of truth. Layton manipulates the audience by putting in Frederic saying that all he “wanted is to be wanted”. This makes the viewers feel sorry for him and almost accept his horrible impersonation. At the end of the film Frederic states “fuck the rest” suggesting that he only cares about himself. This betrays the audience and makes us angry resulting in a shift to understanding the reaction of the family.

How does the beginning of the film play an important part in the text as a whole? …show more content…

The camera then pans upwards towards a bird’s eye view shot of the grave. The viewers attentively sit on the edge of their seats waiting in anticipation. When the hole is exposed and it is empty there is great disappointment. Layton manipulates the audience as we began to believe Frederic but when Nicholas is not found we turn against him. The camera cuts to an interview with Bourdin as he says his last words. He ends saying “I care about myself”. This shows how confusing the mystery is and how manipulative he can be. We don’t know what is truth and what are lies, but it is made certain that we cannot believe Bourdin and that the mystery of Nicholas Barclay

Get Access