At the movies: The hunt for an impostor with multiple identities in the haunting documentary The Man of a Thousand Faces

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His name is Alexander, Ricardo or Daniel. He calls himself a surgeon or an engineer, an Argentinian or a Brazilian. He lives with four women at the same time, adapting his history and even character traits to each one. A first-person investigation, aided by a private detective, of a con man with a thousand phantom lives.

A fascinating investigation

Sonia Kronlund’s name is well known to listeners of French culture. Journalist at the helm of Pieds sur terre, a program in which he asks questions and presents ordinary testimonies, this documentary maker impresses with his voice and unparalleled vision of people. After co-writing multiple screenplays and directing Nothingwood, a feature film set in Afghanistan that was featured in Directors’ Fortnight at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, this year he offers a new skin for his eponymous book, The Man with a Thousand Faces. .

Published last January, this story paints a true portrait of a con man caught up in his ego and excessive tastes. Like a thriller, the audience is invited to delve into the investigation that will lead Sonia Kronlund to track down this man and unravel all the mysteries surrounding him. Based on the confidence of a friend who has suffered “heartbreak” of this colossal scale, the film gives voice to the victim and examines the psychological mechanisms of being in love without judgement.

Suggesting that only liars love, the director offers these women a space of repair through real-life stories told either by real witnesses or by actors, professional or not, who tell these real-life stories alongside this famous man. a thousand faces “I started by collecting testimonials, wrote the texts, then approached these translators. In the end, it seems to me that it is impossible to tell the truth from the lie in this film“, explains the author.

For seven years, this wonderful project aims to be both the voice of wounded love, injuries, deceived women and broken destinies, as well as an X-ray of mythomania and toxic masculinity, which will not forget to smile thanks to its light, sometimes funny tone and its delightful twists.

There was no shortage of suspense throughout the investigation, sublimated by his care for image and staging. Influential, uplifting and sunny, the documentary also manages to deliver an upbeat message about the power of sororities and is one of the genre’s must-sees.

Discover The Man of a Thousand Faces in theaters from April 17.