MovieChat Forums > The Imposter (2012) Discussion > Great Documentary - About the color of h...

Great Documentary - About the color of his eyes...

posted 11 years ago by bureau203
20 replies | jump to latest

The one really glaring problem with his lie, as I see it, is the color of his eyes. Anyone in the family had to know that the kid had blue eyes, and this guy had brown eyes. Your eyes don't change color. Your nose might change shape a little, or maybe if you want to delude yourself you can overlook the fact that his nose looked nothing like the missing kid's nose. But the eyes are a dead giveaway. The fact that they did not immediately know it wasn't him due to his eye color alone is the most interesting thing about this.

"I've seen things that would make you want to write a book on how to puke."

[–] SnoopyStyle 11 years ago

I think the filmmakers were putting in a couple of clues in the film without hitting people over the head.

Also the idea of the sister detailing the photos to the imposter before he had to be tested before the police.

I think the eye color was something of a Rorschach test to start. You can certainly see it either way. But as you add all the other things. It seems highly unlikely that they were as innocent as they portray.

[–] GPJ_Zen 11 years ago

<<Anyone in the family had to know that the kid had blue eyes, and this guy had brown eyes.>>

I feel most to blame on this one was the FBI ---- how could the FBI not know there is no way to change the color of ones eyes, certainly not the the way the guy described it happened. I could see the family buying that story of a liquid placed on his eyes by his terrorist kidnappers, but the FBI?!?!? Geez:( (lol)

[–] bureau203 11 years ago

One of the more interesting takeaways I got from this movie is that nothing the guy says can be trusted. At the end of the film I thought I had a pretty good idea about the kid's fate (the brother did it, and the family knew about it), but later I thought "wait a minute, at least half of what I know about the family's behavior comes from the con man, and we already know he's an excellent liar. Nothing he says can be trusted at all, it all has to be verified." So maybe the family acted suspiciously, or maybe the con man is just lying again. I'm tempted to believe the latter.

"I've seen things that would make you want to write a book on how to puke."

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] MudgeMalog 11 years ago

The FBI should have done a better job. The family maybe wanted to believe a little too much. Who I think was the worst was the US Embassy. This guy never should have got to the US in the first place.

A man with the wrong color eyes ID's 4 out of 5 pictures and that's good enough???? What if he wasn't a con man? What if he was a murderer? They didn't check his fingerprints, DNA, or anything. Hell, get a doctor to see if he's circumcized (60% of US men are, compared to 2% in Spain). They just had his word, one relative's opinion, and him identifying 4 out of 5 photos. And that's enough to give a man with the wrong color eyes US citizenship. Ridiculous!

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] DaveyOZ86 10 years ago

"Are you Jewish?"
"Want to check my penis!" LD

[–] jlprizm86 9 years ago

This. And also did they seriously not question the sister and asked if she showed him any pictures before they did the interview?? I mean I'm sure because they had to shorten the whole story because it's movie that might not have been the only process but according to him that's how they believed it was him. And he didn't even get all of them correctly as you pointed out! I did a face palm on that one (and many other scenes)

[–] ThrowingChicken 11 years ago

I think the sister got there and knew it wasn't him, but was afraid the news would crush her mother so she thought maybe it could be him, a surrogate for him, and helped him become Nick. Once enough people play along it is hard to go against the group.

[–] StakkaDakka 11 years ago

this is the main thing of all the WTF moments in this movie.. how was that explanation swallowed whole by both the FBI and the family, apart from commonsense disproving it, it could have been disproved by an expert with one phone call in 2 minutes

the fact that it takes place as part of an absurd story about multiple high ranking military personnel operating on an international basis to conduct kidnappings and sex rings is even more damning

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] MrCottonsParrot 11 years ago

Everyone is criticizing the people involved for not realizing it wasn't the missing boy, and for not doing enough tests.

But you are forgetting how they got to hear of the information in the first place:

As far as the US officials believed, it was a Spanish authorities who contacted the US and when a faxed photo of the missing boy was sent through, it was the authorities that confirmed this boy and the missing boy were one and the same person.

The last thing the US officials were thinking was that the person passing himself off as the Spanish official was in fact the conman himself!

Once you understand this, it is very easy to believe most things the US guys missed.

In fact when you think about it, asking the bosses at the children's home to have the office all to himself for an evening - was sheer genius!

"Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends..."

[–] Mitzishark 10 years ago

Tbf to the family (if they are innocent), because the authorities pretty much confirmed that the missing boy was Nicholas, they're gonna believe everything they're told about the reasons for his changed appearance.

If someone told me that there was a dye that can change eye colour, I'd probably believe it tbh. Also, didn't they say that the reason his kidnappers did it was because blue-eyed and blond-haired children are less common in Europe? Without wanting to sound patronising, I'd say that would seem pretty plausible to an uneducated family like them.

[–] jlprizm86 9 years ago

What I couldn't believe (like others have said..so many WTF moments in this story) is that the Spanish authorities left him in the office by himself with all kinds of confidential information!? Don't even lock up or anything or have him stay in a separate room (I can't imagine there wasn't any space to let a "teenager" spend the night)..just let him roam free and look into all kinds of private info. And he was a teenager and was scared (whether true or not) is not an excuse..you don't know that! He could've been anyone...jeez..

[–] GPJ_Zen 9 years ago

jlprizm86 --- I completely agree!!!! Maybe the whole story is made up? (lol) It's just so farfetched, so many holes in this story IMHO.

[–] daedalus1337 10 years ago

Umm...did no one in this thread watch the movie? I literally just pulled it up so I could get an exact quote. The social worker says: "his eye color was changed from blue to brown by use of a solution" when discussing his account of the torture...
It's a little out there, but the family believed he got tortured so it's not outside the realm of possibility.

[–] Mitzishark 10 years ago

Umm....yeah that's basically what I just said daedalus1337. So yeh, in answer to your question, I did watch the movie.