Though the story has been told before, (again recently in the New York Post of June 24th), seeing how three young lives were damaged in the name of scientific research turns the story from an interesting read into a visceral and ultimately heartbreaking experience. Tim Wardle's ("One Killer Punch") investigative documentary Three Identical Strangers traces the lives of triplets, Robert Shafran, Eddy Galland and David Kellman, all born to a teenage girl on July 12, 1961 in Glen Cove, New York. Placed in different homes by the same adoption agency at the age of six months, neither children nor the adopting parents were told about any other family members, only that the children were part of a "routine childhood-development study" which would require periodic visits and testing.

Using archival footage, home movies, interviews, and recreations, the film traces the trajectory of the boys' life from their happy reunion after nineteen years to subsequent events that are much darker in tone. The boys discovered that they were members of a family of triplets almost by accident. When Robert began his freshman year at Sullivan County Community College, he was repeatedly mistaken for Eddy (who had previously attended the school) and who he soon learned was the twin brother he had never known.

The story of the reunion of the long lost siblings received wide attention in the newspapers and was spotted by David, the third brother, a student at Queens College, and the three were reunited in a tale so amazing that Shafran is quoted as saying, "I wouldn't believe it if someone else was telling it." The happy reunion becomes fodder for media talk shows as the three are interviewed by Phil Donahue, Tom Brokaw and others and display an abundance of charm and sincerity. Without mentioning any possible differences that might exist, they talk about all the things they have in common.

Posing in the same position on stage, they tell us that each of their families had an older sister, they all wrestled in high school, they all like the same color, smoke the same cigarettes (here's a nod to Marlboro), like the same type of women, and, presumably enjoy the same kind of fawning publicity. The rush of fame soon becomes a crescendo and the brothers even make a cameo appearance in the movie "Desperately Seeking Susan." With David and Robert providing the narration and with non-stop pop songs in the background, we follow their lives as they move in together and open a successful restaurant in Soho appropriately called "Triplets."

After a period of time, however, a family dispute, the nature of which is undisclosed in the film, ends in Robert leaving the restaurant and moving out. Little by little, disturbing events surface. As Bob Dylan's song goes, "It's not dark yet, but it's getting there." As told by journalist Lawrence Wright, the reporter who broke the story, we learn that all three brothers had emotional problems. Kellman and Galland had spent time in a psychiatric hospital and Shafran was on probation after having pleaded guilty to charges connected to a robbery. We also learn about Dr. Peter Neubauer, a highly regarded psychologist and Holocaust survivor who ran the research study, the Louise Wise adoption agency, and the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, all who played a role in the events surrounding the triplet's lives.

Wardle also includes the story of two other twins, sisters separated at birth by the same adoption agency. While there are important events described in the film that are best left for the viewer to discover, needless to say, they are very disturbing. Although some of the film's conclusions are little more than speculation and there are many things that are still not known (records are sealed until 2066), what we do know is enough to shake our faith in any scientific research divorced from considerations of humanity.

It's 1980. Bobby Shafran is adopted and new at community college. Fellow students seem to know him for some reason. He discovers that his previously unknown identical twin Eddy Galland had attended the same college a year earlier. Their story gets into the news and they become triplets when David Kellman shows up with the same story. They are New York tabloid stars and local celebrities. They live together. Then they each get marry and start their own families. They open a restaurant together. Their story takes a darker turn in the 90's when an investigative reporter discovers a troubling scientific study.

This is a fascinating documentary. Certainly, I want to dig into the twin study and how it was done. I want to know the who, when, and how of the matter although I understand the murky cloud enveloping the answers. It's an unfinished movie. There is a bit of repeating with the twins' similarities. I would like to cut out some of the repetition and fill in more of the gaps. The subject matter is jaw-dropping and complicated. It's fascinating.

I loved the documentry like everyone else, I thought it was moving, interesting and all.

However, I didn't like the way the producers presented Eddie's father's charecter at the end of the film as somehow the reason for his suicide.. I know they tried to brush the idea off by having David state that it was not the father's fault, but it was too late by then since they had already spent 10 minutes trying to link the strict upbringing he recieved with his mental illness.

It was abvious by that point that all of these kids had a history of mental illness even though they all had different household. It might be hereditary or something, sure a tough parenting can make it worse.. but no family member or a friend should fall into the rabbit hole of self-blame because of an unfortunate event.. And I really hated how they somehow obtained a confession out of that old -possibly lonely- man that this might be his fault..