NOMADLAND
****
Director: Chloé Zhao
Screenplay: Chloé Zhao. Based on the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder.
Principal cast:
Frances McDormand
David Strathairn
Linda May
Swankie
Bob Wells
Gay DeForest
Country: USA/Germany
Classification: M
Runtime: 108 mins.
Australian release date: 4 March 2021.
In 2011, the financial situation in the USA was beginning to unravel (the economy ground to a virtual halt in the first half of the year), going down a rabbit hole of dispossession and fiscal collapse, particularly in those small communities that relied on one primary employer. In Nomadland, directed by Chloé Zhao, the script is driven by the true story of the closure of the gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada. When the business closed, the town basically ceased to exist, even being stripped of its postcode, leaving its residents in a kind-of limbo. “Empire was a company town that was home to generations of gypsum miners before it was obliterated by the Great Recession and everyone got evicted,” says Jessica Bruder, the author of the book on which the film is based. The inhabitants basically had two choices: stay in no-man’s-land surrounded by decaying buildings, or take the road to nomad’s land, looking for new horizons.
Frances McDormand plays Fern, one of the denizens of the town who, after the loss of her job and the death of her husband, decides to become a modern-day nomad. Accordingly, she sells many of her belongings, buys a van and sets off to travel the country looking for seasonal work. There are certain places and times of year when employers need large numbers of workers and slowly Fern learns where these places are and when is the best time to be there. She also realises that she is one of thousands of people doing the same thing and there are ad hoc, mobile communities spontaneously cropping up all over the back-roads and back-lots of the country. As time passes, she develops a friendship with David (David Strathairn), a fellow traveller who she keeps meeting up with. Like Fern, he is thoughtful and reserved and he seems to be fond of her. When he unexpectedly has to return to his family, he invites Fern to join him, an invitation that becomes a deciding factor in her future and one that lies at the heart of this moving, dignified tale.
One of the interesting things about Nomadland is that Fern/Frances’ encounters are with real-life nomads, whose stories add authenticity to the ‘on-the-road’ experiences she has, via the reflections of these fellow travellers. Fern is a resilient woman who has a natural ability to listen and engage with her companions so, when advised by a seasoned nomad, Swankie, to learn the skills necessary to survive, she quickly adapts to her new way of life. Thus, when asked, Fern states that she is “houseless, not homeless” and therein lies a big difference: she made the choice to become a nomad, even if the decision was foisted on her initially, and she relishes the freedom it brings her.
Nomadland is an extraordinary viewing experience on many levels, not least for McDormand’s transformative performance, but also because Zhao takes us into the heart of an impoverished America, to places that more and more US citizens are encountering. As somebody once said, “The USA is a rich country inhabited by a lot of poor people”, and many individuals are only one payday away from penury, one emergency away from losing everything (we’ve glimpsed this world in other films recently, like Leave No Trace). Refreshingly, the movie shows how ordinary people, when faced with shared difficulties, actually look out for one-another; it confirms the positivity of the human spirit and demonstrates how the important things in life don’t come from material well-being. The South Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Arizona and California locations are stunningly beautiful, captured by Joshua James Richards’ excellent cinematography and edited by Zhao herself. Richards also worked with Zhao on her previous film The Rider and was cinematographer on the magnificent God’s Own Country in 2017.
Nomadland has been festooned with awards and was the winner of the Golden Lion at Venice last year; it was voted The Peoples’ Choice Award winner at the Toronto Film Festival and recently won Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Director (Chloé Zhao) at the Golden Globes; and it was selected as Best Film of 2020 by many film critics. This is one of the finest cinematic experiences of the year and once again shows how versatile (she is also one of the producers) and charismatic Frances McDormand is. She and the director succeed in breaking your heart, while simultaneously giving you hope for the future. It’s a pretty incredible balancing act.
Screenplay: Chloé Zhao. Based on the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder.
Principal cast:
Frances McDormand
David Strathairn
Linda May
Swankie
Bob Wells
Gay DeForest
Country: USA/Germany
Classification: M
Runtime: 108 mins.
Australian release date: 4 March 2021.
In 2011, the financial situation in the USA was beginning to unravel (the economy ground to a virtual halt in the first half of the year), going down a rabbit hole of dispossession and fiscal collapse, particularly in those small communities that relied on one primary employer. In Nomadland, directed by Chloé Zhao, the script is driven by the true story of the closure of the gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada. When the business closed, the town basically ceased to exist, even being stripped of its postcode, leaving its residents in a kind-of limbo. “Empire was a company town that was home to generations of gypsum miners before it was obliterated by the Great Recession and everyone got evicted,” says Jessica Bruder, the author of the book on which the film is based. The inhabitants basically had two choices: stay in no-man’s-land surrounded by decaying buildings, or take the road to nomad’s land, looking for new horizons.
Frances McDormand plays Fern, one of the denizens of the town who, after the loss of her job and the death of her husband, decides to become a modern-day nomad. Accordingly, she sells many of her belongings, buys a van and sets off to travel the country looking for seasonal work. There are certain places and times of year when employers need large numbers of workers and slowly Fern learns where these places are and when is the best time to be there. She also realises that she is one of thousands of people doing the same thing and there are ad hoc, mobile communities spontaneously cropping up all over the back-roads and back-lots of the country. As time passes, she develops a friendship with David (David Strathairn), a fellow traveller who she keeps meeting up with. Like Fern, he is thoughtful and reserved and he seems to be fond of her. When he unexpectedly has to return to his family, he invites Fern to join him, an invitation that becomes a deciding factor in her future and one that lies at the heart of this moving, dignified tale.
One of the interesting things about Nomadland is that Fern/Frances’ encounters are with real-life nomads, whose stories add authenticity to the ‘on-the-road’ experiences she has, via the reflections of these fellow travellers. Fern is a resilient woman who has a natural ability to listen and engage with her companions so, when advised by a seasoned nomad, Swankie, to learn the skills necessary to survive, she quickly adapts to her new way of life. Thus, when asked, Fern states that she is “houseless, not homeless” and therein lies a big difference: she made the choice to become a nomad, even if the decision was foisted on her initially, and she relishes the freedom it brings her.
Nomadland is an extraordinary viewing experience on many levels, not least for McDormand’s transformative performance, but also because Zhao takes us into the heart of an impoverished America, to places that more and more US citizens are encountering. As somebody once said, “The USA is a rich country inhabited by a lot of poor people”, and many individuals are only one payday away from penury, one emergency away from losing everything (we’ve glimpsed this world in other films recently, like Leave No Trace). Refreshingly, the movie shows how ordinary people, when faced with shared difficulties, actually look out for one-another; it confirms the positivity of the human spirit and demonstrates how the important things in life don’t come from material well-being. The South Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Arizona and California locations are stunningly beautiful, captured by Joshua James Richards’ excellent cinematography and edited by Zhao herself. Richards also worked with Zhao on her previous film The Rider and was cinematographer on the magnificent God’s Own Country in 2017.
Nomadland has been festooned with awards and was the winner of the Golden Lion at Venice last year; it was voted The Peoples’ Choice Award winner at the Toronto Film Festival and recently won Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Director (Chloé Zhao) at the Golden Globes; and it was selected as Best Film of 2020 by many film critics. This is one of the finest cinematic experiences of the year and once again shows how versatile (she is also one of the producers) and charismatic Frances McDormand is. She and the director succeed in breaking your heart, while simultaneously giving you hope for the future. It’s a pretty incredible balancing act.