The Return of Martin Guerre

The Return of Martin Guerre is a 1982 French film directed by Daniel Vigne and based on historical events in France during the 16th century. . The film relates an historical case of identity theft. Martin Guerre leaves his young wife in a small French village to go fight in a war and travel. Many years later, a man claiming to be Martin returns to resume his life. The man is initially acknowledged and welcomed by family and friends because he seems to know the details of Martin's life, but later townpeople grow suspicious that he is an imposter. The story ends with the man's trial. In 1983,... a book of the same name was published by Natalie Zemon Davis, an American historian of early modern France. She had served as a consultant and helped write the screenplay for the film. She was a professor at Princeton University. Sommersby was a 1993 United States remake of the film, set after the American Civil War and starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster.
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