Everyone has a story to tell. Some people will tell you their story any chance they get. Some you have to draw it out of them. Some, well, some simply draw it.
The majority of documentaries are, at their heart, about people. When it comes to choosing a suitable subject for a film, there are people, and then there are characters. Nathan Hilu is certainly a character.
When the audience is first introduced to Nathan, the best word to describe him is animated. Literally, as he draws his stories, but also he comes alive when engaging with someone and telling them about his life.
It is not difficult to see what makes him such a compelling subject. At the end of World War II, Hilu, the son of Syrian Jewish immigrants to New York, received a life-changing assignment from the U.S. Army: to guard the top Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg trials. Including Hermann Göring. This experience fuelled a lifetime of artistic inspiration for Nathan, a virtually unknown “outsider artist”, who spent the next 70 years obsessively creating a visual narrative from his memories.
Elan Golod’s film portrait Nathan-ism documents the man but what happens when that man’s memories take on a life of their own?
In a way, Nathan is indicative of that generation that through the social isolation that comes from being old is desperately seeking connection and to be seen and heard. The problem occurs when the validity of Hilu’s most infamous story comes into question. Is he telling us the truth or simply what we as an audience want to hear?
As the film progresses, it turns out Golod is not the first person Hilu has reached out to in order to amplify his story and work. There have been other documentarians, publishers and exhibitors who have fallen for Nathan’s charm, only to reach the same stumbling block.
It is here where the documentary takes a compelling turn as Golod attempts to achieve what no one else has been able to. Verify Hilu’s story. It turns out Nathan service records were missing so the director tumbles down a rabbit hole to find evidence that corroborates this tale. This takes the film towards the “truth is stranger than fiction” format that has become popularised by Netflix with films like The Tinder Swindler or Misha And The Wolves.
Nathan-ism refers to the style of illustration and art that Hilu produces. You have cubism, impressionism, and… Nathan-ism. His style is unique, his character is unique, and so is his story. Drawing from the real-life inspiration and using animation to recreate key moments, this is an engaging story told with compassion by Golod.
Rating: 
Director: Elan Golod
Runtime: 79 minutes
Country: USA
