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Related: Film discussion forum.

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Related: Film discussion forum.

Telly addicts

Anyone watching The Imposter?

45 replies

Whitershadeofpale · 22/08/2013 22:26

I saw this at the pictures and still find it so bizarre now.

OP posts:

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valiumredhead · 23/08/2013 10:29

I can't believe all he had to do in the Spanish court was to point to a few photos Ffs!

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valiumredhead · 23/08/2013 10:31

The 'imposter' was the most beautiful baby ever imo, the picture of him was just lovely.

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OctopusPete8 · 23/08/2013 10:33

its dreadful the initial disappearance never made the news,

and how is a retired old man doing more police work than like...spain n' america combined??.

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OctopusPete8 · 23/08/2013 10:36

although of course, the brother making him walk home, not bothering to look for him, her working late probably didn't get in touch with police till after 48hr mark.

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MamaMary · 24/08/2013 21:07

I saw parts of it but missed some parts, annoyingly. Very strange. It actually was quite annoying the way it was filmed; I would have preferred a straight documentary.

Why did he make so many calls from prison? Who was he calling?

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lborolass · 24/08/2013 21:15

I'd never heard of this case and found the film fascinating - so many questions that weren't answered.

What I found really interesting was the fact that this happened relatively recently but is unimaginable today as technology and communications have moved on so much that no one could get away with such a scam.

Did I miss something, I didn't realise they had proved the boy had been murdered.

I'm off to research the case further.

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MamaMary · 24/08/2013 21:21

No, they didn't prove Nicolas was murdered. He is still listed as a missing person.

do you know why the imposter made so many calls from prison and who he was calling? It's bugging me

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Whitershadeofpale · 24/08/2013 21:24

If I remember correctly he was calling police across the world claiming to have information about other missing children.

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clangermum · 24/08/2013 21:36

I don't think they have proved the boy was murdered. The private detective thinks so. The imposter claimed it because he felt some family members knew he was an imposter, but went along with it to help hide the murder. But then he's an unreliable narrator. He claimed the sister showed him family photos when they first met, in a way that he said helped him pass the photo test set by Spanish authorities. As though she was coaching him in who everyone was.

It seems odd to me, as three years after the disappearance nobody had been accusing them of murder ( I don't think), so if they had done it, wouldn't it have felt like they'd got away with it? Wouldn't it have been simpler to say - no that's not our son/brother, he has the wrong colour eyes! Why is he talking with a French accent? (that's if they were all in on it).

Unless it was the older brother alone - I don't think he ever welcomed the imposter and on first meeting him said something like 'good luck'.

After his younger brother's disappearance he phoned the police claiming the younger brother had tried to break into the house. It was suggested this was a common way for someone to cover their tracks i.e. if older brother was responsible in some way for younger brother's disappearance.

I felt maybe the sister just really wanted it to be him, so saw what she wanted to see perhaps, strange as that may seem.

As I understand it, the guy was making calls from prison either pretending to be missing people or, in the case of a very young child, saying he had information on what had happened. Did anyone else get this? It made me rethink his entire narration, as he seemed seriously messed up, whereas at the start I felt some sympathy. And he was wanted for identity theft so many times.

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clangermum · 24/08/2013 21:37

x-post!

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clangermum · 24/08/2013 21:41

FBI lady did have doubts about family though. Especially when sister took imposter home from the airport as though she hadn't been told he was potentially dangerous, after the interviews with the language expert suggested imposter couldn't possibly be American

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MamaMary · 24/08/2013 21:46

Thanks Clangermum and WHitershade :)

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OctopusPete8 · 24/08/2013 23:25

I took that at the end , as evidence he had mayber tracked the case the whole time and had known about Nicholas Barclay, taking an active interest in missing children.

Then , of course I remembered them saying his disappearance never made the news

That family was very,very dodgy and it appeared one old man did more police work that spain n' america combined.
Although the ear csi,
"Wha' mo'does she wow'nt???I arrr'eady tole'her they ain't got the same ears!!!" was hilarious...

. Why did no-one go searching for him on the night , and the brother making him walk home all alone at that time of night.

. Why did only the sister care, the mother had barely any interest.

.Why did only the sister go to get him? she admitted she had never been on a plane, why send an unworldly young adult to rescue your 'kidnapped & tortured' son.???

.Why the only photos of him very of a young child, no recent ones.?

. why the fact his mother was a drug addict wasn't previosuly mentioned.?

. why she refused blood test?

. why the brother made the call to police?

. why he commited an overdose after the interview?

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valiumredhead · 24/08/2013 23:34

The mother was a drug addict, explains the not caring

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OctopusPete8 · 25/08/2013 01:56

even most drug addicts would have a glimmer of grief etc,

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Ellenora5 · 26/08/2013 01:36

I have just watched this, it was one of the strangest documentary/films I have seen in a long time, how come Frederic only spent 6 years in prison for all he did, and the phone calls while he was in prison surely would have meant he got extra sentencing for wasting police time. The old detective guy seemed to be the only one who had a clue what was going on, the fbi and Interpol were seriously lacking in this whole case.

I don't think I will ever understand the sister believing he was her brother, brown eyes cannot be mistaken for blue eyes.

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OctopusPete8 · 26/08/2013 08:24

I know I was sat there thinking, why is he allowed a phone!!!!!

take it off him FGS!

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valiumredhead · 26/08/2013 12:31

I disagree, some addicts would if they were a good, kind person in the first place, if they were a crap mother who didn't give a fuck even before you add drugs into the mix then it explains an awful lot.

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OctopusPete8 · 26/08/2013 15:48

I agree, thats what I mean not all junkies are uncaring scum, so she must have been dodgy to begin with.

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Salbertina · 31/08/2013 15:59

So intriguing. First thought how -unbelievably thick-- gullible the family were, then dawning realisation this was possibly a convenient cover for them. Or not. Director really playing with the audience, hey?

But not v satisfying doc- why raise the murder allegation in such flimsy evidence? Or if not flimsy, make much more of it in the film?

Agree, all rather tawdry- such a young teen able to "run away" for a couple of nights, with tattoos, obese drug addicted mum, poss abusive brother /step father???