Panorama review - NATHAN - FREE AS A BIRD by Roel Nollet

Nathan - Free as a Bird. A seemingly misleading title for a film about a man who decides to take his own life, by first time feature documentarian Roel Nollet presented at the 27th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
 
A few years ago, filmmaker Roel Nollet met Nathan, a man born a woman Nancy, on a mission - undertaking a series of sex change operations that would officially recognise him as a member of the male sex. Towards the beginning, we see that the mission was accomplished, and yet this is not necessarily a documentary with a happy ending, at least not one that would be easy for us to understand. For we know, right from the start that the unhappiness and failure of these extrenuous operations lead to such a fulfillment of unhappiness and resignation that Nathan decides to opt for a final solution - end his life through euthanasia.

 

Is this legal? Apparently so, as Benelux allows men overwhelmed by psychological struggle to end his own life. Nevertheless, the documentary by its very inevitable controversial nature is bound to spur up debates and possibly stir up a storm of a piece of news that the mass media had already picked up on. In the process, this raises questions about the ethics of the figure of the documentarian. Nollet is more or less forgiven, as Nathan's full conviction to carry out his desires and his wish for the filmmaker to shoot his lead up to the final day are very strong. This does not mean that Nollet agrees or encourages his subject's behaviours and this personal conflict is portrayed in the film through the choice of short scenes in which he includes himself, on a mission to write a book about Nathan and finally, in the epilogue, unable to finish it - as if he himself were unable to fully understand why, or how, or what.
 
Despite this, Nollet carries out Nathan's wishes by portraying the love of the friends that surrounds him and by including video diary footage taken by Nathan himself. As the film progresses, we realise that even behind the man's smile there is terrible pain. In this sense, the filmmaker almost becomes a cameraman for hire, unable to control or prevent the situation. Nathan - Free as a Bird is a video reportage, and the times when it delves on cinematic grounds through editing and even interviews with the friends that stood by him til the end, feel a little forced. Nevertheless, much like the event it portrays, this documentary is very difficult to ignore although thankfully and tastefully it is also a sensible, non judgemental one and certainly not exploitational or displeasing.