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That is how Fern (Frances McDormand) prefers to describe herself when confronted by a family friend about her situation. Fern was laid off when the plant she used to work for shut down, so now she lives inside her van while performing seasonal and scattered gigs to sustain herself. But the fact that she doesn't have a "house" doesn't seem to deter her from trying to make the most out of her situation.
Nomadland follows Fern, whose nomadic lifestyle takes her from the coldness of Northern Nevada and the deserts of Arizona to the remoteness of South Dakota and the relative "comforts" of California. Through all that, we get to see her struggles to survive and scrape by, whether it's enduring a particularly cold winter in her van or not knowing how to pay for a costly repair to her home/van. In the process, she meets a group of fellow nomads which she befriends and learns from.
The film manages to effectively convey how hard it is to ultimately make ends meet for regular people; people that have been sometimes reluctantly pushed towards this lifestyle for lack of any other choices. The way that the film shows the way that America's economic system pretty much abandons hard-working, elderly people to their own luck, was mostly on point. I also thought that putting her at work at an Amazon fulfillment center was particularly clever, considering the fact that Amazon's pretty much the biggest company right now and its CEO is close to become the world's first trillionaire.
There is a moment where the nomads trade speeches and explanations about their situation, which veers very close to heavy-handedness, but I felt that Zhao had the necessary restrain to never let it go overboard. On the same vein, I never felt she glamorized Fern's lifestyle. Quite the contrary. I thought the struggle was always evident, and always upfront.
But the driving force on this film is McDormand, whose performance is spectacular. Her verbal and non-verbal acting makes us feel Fern's restlessness and desperation. The supporting cast is also impressive, especially if you consider that most of them are not professional actors. David Strathairn, who plays a fellow nomad that Fern meets, is the exception. But his performance is so subtle and muted that you don't feel the difference between him and the rest of the supporting cast, and I mean that in a good way.
At one point, Fern reminisces about her former house in Nevada. And although she dismisses it at first, she quickly does a U-turn as her mind wanders in the memories... not necessarily of the house, but of the space around it.
There's another scene where Fern explores a canyon park where Strathairn works, and she does so in such a restless yet playful manner, almost childlike. And I think that is a perfect scene that encapsulates Fern's character. Restless, desperate, curious, houseless, but nothing in her way.
Grade:
NOMADLAND
(2020, Zhao)
A film directed by a woman
(2020, Zhao)
A film directed by a woman
"No, I'm not homeless. I'm just houseless."
That is how Fern (Frances McDormand) prefers to describe herself when confronted by a family friend about her situation. Fern was laid off when the plant she used to work for shut down, so now she lives inside her van while performing seasonal and scattered gigs to sustain herself. But the fact that she doesn't have a "house" doesn't seem to deter her from trying to make the most out of her situation.
Nomadland follows Fern, whose nomadic lifestyle takes her from the coldness of Northern Nevada and the deserts of Arizona to the remoteness of South Dakota and the relative "comforts" of California. Through all that, we get to see her struggles to survive and scrape by, whether it's enduring a particularly cold winter in her van or not knowing how to pay for a costly repair to her home/van. In the process, she meets a group of fellow nomads which she befriends and learns from.
The film manages to effectively convey how hard it is to ultimately make ends meet for regular people; people that have been sometimes reluctantly pushed towards this lifestyle for lack of any other choices. The way that the film shows the way that America's economic system pretty much abandons hard-working, elderly people to their own luck, was mostly on point. I also thought that putting her at work at an Amazon fulfillment center was particularly clever, considering the fact that Amazon's pretty much the biggest company right now and its CEO is close to become the world's first trillionaire.
There is a moment where the nomads trade speeches and explanations about their situation, which veers very close to heavy-handedness, but I felt that Zhao had the necessary restrain to never let it go overboard. On the same vein, I never felt she glamorized Fern's lifestyle. Quite the contrary. I thought the struggle was always evident, and always upfront.
But the driving force on this film is McDormand, whose performance is spectacular. Her verbal and non-verbal acting makes us feel Fern's restlessness and desperation. The supporting cast is also impressive, especially if you consider that most of them are not professional actors. David Strathairn, who plays a fellow nomad that Fern meets, is the exception. But his performance is so subtle and muted that you don't feel the difference between him and the rest of the supporting cast, and I mean that in a good way.
At one point, Fern reminisces about her former house in Nevada. And although she dismisses it at first, she quickly does a U-turn as her mind wanders in the memories... not necessarily of the house, but of the space around it.
"Nothing special. Just a company tract house... Actually, it was special. We were right on the edge of town. And our backyard looks out at this huge open space. It was just desert, desert, desert, all the way to the mountains. There was nothin' in our way."
Grade: