Based on a True Story
The underlying irony of Martin Guerre’s amazing story is the foundation upon which so many movies rely: it is a true story. Now, the phrase “based on a true story” is wildly misused in Hollywood. Both Oliver Stone’s JFK and the Coen Brothers’ Fargo engage the trope to sell their narrative and while the Coens themselves created their story out of thin air, Stone’s interpretation of the historical record is every bit as devoid of genuine historical facts; it often seems like the most brilliantly directed story that is being made up as it goes that has ever been made.
The lesson to be learned is that whether your story is entirely true, barely true or not true at all, saying it is based on a true story is a marketing ploy proven to be extraordinarily effective. The irony here is that if the events which take place in The Return of the Martin Guerre had not actually happened, the suspension of disbelief required to buy it would likely doom it to never being told: it just isn’t believable.
A Trial without Proof
How do you put a man on trial for saying he is someone he is not if the only possible proof that can be entered as evidence is people who either agree he is or isn’t who he says he is? Today, this would be almost impossible. Probably it would absolutely impossible, but as Martin’s story should indicate, never say never. Consider how you would prove you are who you say are if you hadn’t been for many years and you had no photographs to compare how you look now to how you looked then. Now add to this circumstances that the long paper trail which has followed you from one place to another doesn’t exist. And, of course, the very idea of DNA testing would seem like witchcraft.
The great irony of the trial to determine the identity of the real Martin Guerre is that had the real Martin Guerre not shown up, it could never have been proven one way or the other. Who you were back then was basically a situation in which you were who other people said you were and if they all said differently, the truth did not matter.
The Wooden Leg
The most breathtaking irony of the story—and one of those elements that were it not factually true would one of the first things a responsible editor would jettison from the narrative—is that the evidence which proves the identity of the real Martin Guerre is an artificial leg. The natural expectation is that an anatomical anomaly capable of proving identity would actually be physical: an enormous nose, eyes of different colors, or distinctive birthmark. Ironically, the body part that identifies the real Martin is not just something he wasn’t born with, but the absence of something he was born with. Word of advice: do not try selling a story in which your court case turns on that plot twist unless your tale is also based on historical record.
The Spanish Soldier
When Martin flees his family responsibilities, he winds up becoming a soldier in the Spanish army. Ironic because France was at war with Spain at the time, thus making the real Martin Guerre not only a husband who abandoned his wife, but a traitor to his country.
The Better Martin
And, of course, the bitter irony of the story is that the imposter who claimed to be Martin Guerre at last returning home as the prodigal son—Arnaud du Tilh—proved to be a better Martin Guerre than the real Martin Guerre. The portrait of the fake that is presented by the author is a man substantially more charming, intelligent, loving, hard-working and deserving of the Guerre estate than the—well, there’s no other way to put it—traitor who took up arms against his own people.
