[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.19,0:00:06.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hi, my name is Tony and this is Every \NFrame a Painting, where I analyze film form.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.02,0:00:10.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today's movie is The Imposter, \Nfrom 2012, directed by Bart Layton.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.26,0:00:12.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you haven't seen it,\Nplease read nothing more.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.08,0:00:14.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Don't even look up\Nwhat genre this thing is.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.20,0:00:18.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just close this video, browse over to Netflix \Nand watch it, because I am gonna spoil everything.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.31,0:00:21.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have 5 seconds\Nto terminate this tape.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.32,0:00:22.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ready?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.09,0:00:26.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,5, 4, 3, 2
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.71,0:00:30.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's dig in.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.02,0:00:35.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think Bart Layton made one of the smartest, simplest \Ndecisions I've ever seen for a doc and it's this:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.86,0:00:41.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every subject in this story is shot in a normal \Ninterview style, looking off frame at someone else.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.44,0:00:43.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Except for our bad guy...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.62,0:00:47.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] From as long as I remember,\NI wanted to be someone else.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.83,0:00:49.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,... who looks right at us.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.70,0:00:51.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's it. Dead simple.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.53,0:00:54.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See, the movies have always had\Na fascination with bad guys,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.21,0:00:56.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we've always had this way\Nof looking them right in the eye,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.39,0:01:02.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether they be gangsters, cannibals, sociopaths, \Npsychos, japanese girls or Leonardo DiCaprio.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.55,0:01:06.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I love it when a detective story or \Na thriller plays moments into the lens.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.38,0:01:10.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Jonathan Demme does this a lot in Silence of \Nthe Lambs, which is all about getting you...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.42,0:01:11.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] Closer…
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.78,0:01:13.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,...into her headspace.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.71,0:01:18.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just the little things, like the experience of \Nbeing shorter and female in a room like this.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.45,0:01:19.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] Go on now.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.67,0:01:21.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or here's a scene from Zodiac.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.31,0:01:23.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the first interview\Nwith our prime suspect.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.76,0:01:27.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All three of the detectives are trying \Nto figure out: is this guy the killer?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.63,0:01:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when he says something suspicious, \Nlook at the shots Fincher cuts to.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.00,0:01:33.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] Well, we'll be checking in on that.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.23,0:01:35.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Were you ever in Southern California?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.28,0:01:36.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the climax of the scene is this:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.92,0:01:39.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not the Zodiac.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.43,0:01:43.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if I was, I certainly\Nwouldn't tell you.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.37,0:01:45.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the movie's asking you to judge:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.18,0:01:47.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what do you think about this guy?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.03,0:01:52.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in fiction films, it's really hard to sustain a whole \Nmovie with someone looking into the lens the entire time.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.38,0:01:53.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's just too much.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.69,0:01:54.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] Yeah.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.62,0:01:56.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if you go to documentaries…
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.46,0:01:58.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] Introduce the sentence, because\NI know exactly what I wanted to say.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.97,0:02:00.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Go ahead!\N- Ok.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.39,0:02:03.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,…you'll run into Errol Morris,\Nwho does it all the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.34,0:02:05.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For him, the goal is to\Nachieve the first-person,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.63,0:02:08.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the sense that you're really in the room \Nwith these people talking to them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.74,0:02:11.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when they explain themselves,\Nthey don't break eye contact with you,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.45,0:02:14.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so it makes it easier for you\Nto empathize with them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.88,0:02:17.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's the camera setup\Nfor The Imposter.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.35,0:02:20.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This angle puts us in the same room\Nas the bad guy, judging him.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.97,0:02:25.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the same angle also makes us really \Nsusceptible to have persuasive he is.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.76,0:02:30.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In other words,we know he's the \Nbad guy, but that doesn't protect us.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.38,0:02:34.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you watch closely, you'll see a bunch of \Nother decisions in the film that stem from this.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.43,0:02:39.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most of the reconstructions are shot from the\Nimposter's point-of-view. He even lip-syncs…
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.98,0:02:45.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] I wasn't the one who was telling them I've \Nbeen sexually abused. I made them ask me that.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.40,0:02:47.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,…across past and present.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.37,0:02:51.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Other people we see from above or \Nfrom below, but we're eye level here.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.49,0:02:55.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plus, these subjects are framed in depth, so you can \Nsee their environments and where they come from.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.65,0:03:00.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the imposter's background is literally a blur. \NHe doesn't even have a title card telling us who he is.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.99,0:03:04.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ok, so all of these are clearly \Ndirectorial choices. But why?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.25,0:03:08.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why set up the movie so that the bad guy \Ncontrols the story and how it's framed?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.84,0:03:11.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because the movie wants to trick you.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.63,0:03:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not in a "gotcha!" kind of way.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.28,0:03:16.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just that the director wants you\Nto experience this guy's persuasiveness.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.97,0:03:22.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See, he spends most of the story telling us how \Nhe lied to other people and how he tricked everyone.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.12,0:03:24.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we know we shouldn't\Ntrust what he says.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.58,0:03:27.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But then two-thirds of the way\Nthrough the film, he plays on that:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.62,0:03:32.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why did the family accept him so easily? \NAren't they too trusting of him?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.20,0:03:35.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] I didn't need to be Columbo\Nto put all the pieces together.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.46,0:03:38.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, why else would they\Naccept this guy, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.20,0:03:39.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] They killed him.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.53,0:03:40.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oh, shit!
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.95,0:03:47.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[clip] Some of them did it, some of them knew \Nof it and some of them choose to ignore it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.32,0:03:49.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wait, what?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.38,0:03:51.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Fuck him!
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.11,0:03:55.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See, the natural reaction of a lot of people to \Nthis case is to look down on the Barclay family.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.61,0:03:58.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To see them as being dumb\Nor easily manipulated.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.12,0:03:59.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, the movie even\Ngives some ammunition.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.96,0:04:03.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, Spain? Isn't that \Nlike across the country?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.88,0:04:06.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plus, who doesn't\Nrecognize their own kid?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.78,0:04:08.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the movie lets you believe that.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.67,0:04:13.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not shoving it down your throat, it just lets you believe what you're already predisposed to believe.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.22,0:04:15.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then you fall for the same trap.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.15,0:04:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because your brain was already thinking it, all \Nthis guy has to do was look at you and confirm it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.00,0:04:22.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whether this movie works\Nfor you or not, I can't say.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.66,0:04:25.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can say that I definitely fell for it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.36,0:04:28.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think this film actually has\Na lot of empathy for the family.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.60,0:04:31.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For 90 minutes, it lets you experience \Nthe story the way they would have:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.81,0:04:35.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with one crazy twist after another, \Nuntil you don't know what to think or feel.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.65,0:04:38.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And maybe at the end of it, you understand \Na little better how they could have been tricked
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.90,0:04:41.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by something that seems\Nso obvious to you or me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.31,0:04:51.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or maybe you don't, and\Nyou're a fucking psycho.