A review of the new film “Nomadland”
By the time restrictions had eased on the third lockdown in pandemic Britain and I was able to see this film on the big screen, it had already received three Academy Awards, winning Best Director (Chloé Zhao), Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Film.
It is a remarkably original work, mixing a fictional story of widowed 61 year old Fern (McDormand), who makes a life for herself in a recreational vehicle (RV) travelling to wherever she can find casual work, with what is in effect a documentary about the life of such nomads in modern America featuring a cast of real-life characters who fit into the story while telling their own stories. The cinematography is amazing with shot after shot looking like a photograph or painting.
This could have been a depressing critique of an America for whom the dream has become a nightmare, but instead there is a moving sense of solidarity and community between people who have so little materially but so much in spirit.
The sense of positivity is captured in Fern’s comment: “I’m not homeless, I’m just houseless. Not the same thing, right? Don’t worry about me.” The narrative is sparse and episodic and underlined by the understated music of Ludovico Einaudi. The ending of the fictional part of the film is unresolved and enigmatic. My viewing companion and I had very different ideas about Fern’s future.