Nominated for Best Documentary Feature
Q&A with Sonia Kronlund
He goes by the names of Alexandre, Ricardo or Daniel. He calls himself a surgeon or an engineer, Argentinian or Brazilian. He lives with four women at the same time, adapting his story and personality traits to each one. A first-person investigation into an impostor with a thousand imaginary lives.
How far would you go to become someone else? That is the question posed, and investigated by journalist Sonia Kronlund, in this labyrinthine journey through the loves, crimes and choices of a master con artist. Balancing multiple names, nationalities and entire identities, this man manipulates multiple women across the world – first into loving him, and then into living with him, having his children and giving him money.
‘Ricardo’ – just one of his names – is at turns Argentinian then Brazilian; an engineer then a surgeon. With the precision of this latter profession, Kronlund maps out Ricardo’s many stories, while giving equal space for the experiences of the women to whom he has caused such pain.
This level-headed documentary thrives on its lucidity. It eschews the current trend for sensationalist non-fiction, its calm dissection of Ricardo’s movements sitting in neat opposition to the unbelievable nature of his acts. The film places us within it, as both detective and psychologist – we’re trying to understand not just what Ricardo did, and how he did it – but also why. Are con artists born that way, or made into their mendacity?
The Man With 1000 Faces is at turns dark, horrifying, intriguing and even funny. If it seems stranger than fiction – that’s because it largely is.
Review by Pauline Rieux
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