by A. J.
Best Pictures #65: 2020
(93rd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
Nomadland
Nomadland
“I’ve met hundreds of people out there and I don’t ever say
a final goodbye. Let’s just say, ‘I’ll see you down the road.’ And I do. I see
them again.”
Nomadland opens with text explaining that after 80
years the gypsum mine in Empire, Nevada closed and the town quickly ceased to
exist. Fern, a 60ish former resident of Empire, now travels the American West
living out of her modified van moving from town to town, campsite to campsite,
taking odd jobs here and there. Frances McDormand gives a wonderful performance
as Fern. She is far more understated than her characters in Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, or even Almost Famous, but, no matter how broad or
intimate the role, her great talent as an actress is to make any character that
she plays feel very real. It is no surprise that McDormand has earned a Best Actress
Oscar nomination for her work here. There is a wistful, bittersweetness to Fern
and her nomadic lifestyle and also to the movie itself.
As both writer (adapting Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction book of
the same name) and director, Chloe Zhao gives her film the look and feel of a
documentary. This approach helps Nomadland in some ways and hurts it in
others. It will come as no surprise that many of the fellow travelers and
nomads Fern encounters and befriends are real life nomads. They do a fine job
in their scenes with a two-time Academy Award winner because the movie only requires them
to be themselves. A gathering of nomads in Arizona where they trade stories,
supplies, and tips and advice for living on the road is
the most interesting segment of the film. That scene along with the scenes of
the real people sharing their stories and insights made part of me wish that
Zhao had made a documentary instead of a dramatization.
Seeing the beautifully photographed landscapes of the
American West from the Nevada desert to Arizona to the Dakota badlands is a
treat. The Oscar nominated cinematography by Joshua James Richards captures the quiet, enchanting beauty in what seems like a desolate landscape.
Many scenes in Nomadland are short, giving us only snippets
of the lives Fern encounters and her own life as well. David Strathairn has a
small but great performance as a fellow wanderer debating if he should settle
down again. Their scenes together are touching moments and we want them to last
and hope they meet each other again. We get a brief scene of Fern visiting her
sister and an argument about the real estate market begins to brew but stops
short. She moves from place to place so the film cannot help feeling episodic
but it is still well-paced. Nomadland is about a wanderer, but it is never
aimless.
There is not much that feels contrived in Nomadland
but at a certain point I knew what would happen in the final scene. We spend a
lot of quiet moments with Fern but we also feel kept at a distance from her,
not unlike the distance she keeps from those that try to get close to her. We
begin the film thinking that her life as a nomad is purely out of necessity but then it seems it is by choice. Perhaps the real answer for Fern and the real
life nomads is somewhere in between. Nomadland is worth watching for the
glimpse at this quasi-off-the-grid lifestyle but to learn more about it I
suppose I will have to read the book.
Nominees: Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey (producer), Chloé Zhao, producers Director: Chloe Zhao
Screenplay: Chloe Zhao, based on the book by Jessica Bruder
Cast:Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Swankie
Production Companies: Highwayman Films, Hear/Say Productions, Cor Cordium Productions
Distributor: Searchlight Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release Date: February 19th, 2021
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actress-Frances McDormand; Director-Chloe Zhao; Adapted Screenplay-Chloe Zhao; Editing-Chloe Zhao; Cinematography-Joshua James Richards
No comments:
Post a Comment