One of the siblings said, ‘I wouldn’t believe the story if someone else was telling it. It’s true. Every word of it‘. The problem I often encounter with movie or documentary reviews is that sometimes telling less is more and this is one of those moments. I relay the story-line below with trepidation.
This US Documentary Special Jury Award winner for Storytelling (and on the shortlist of 15 films considered for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature) is captivating and boggles the mind. How this could have happened in a modern western democratic country is anyone’s guess.
IMDB Storyline:
New York, 1980: three complete strangers accidentally discover that they are identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds’ joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but it also unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond their own lives – and could transform our understanding of human nature forever.
I can’t tell anyone anymore of it if they intend on viewing it. Even the trailer below reveals too much. I saw it about 2 years ago with zero knowledge of it and watched it again with others and it left me gobsmacked each time. It is a stellar documentary which sways between highs and lows of emotions and maintains its characters centre of the story.
When you get down to brass-tacks, the question begs here.. What is more effectual in someone’s life – nature or nurture? Someone unrelated to a family, but brought up within that same family. Can that ‘nurture’ overcome their nature and genes? This documentary is quite dark because of the ethical nature as to what happened to these triplets. It’s enthralling, although 95% of the population have never heard of it. Its an important film for its social context and its psychology.
References:
1. Three Identical Strangers – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
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