196. Nomadland; movie review

 

NOMADLAND

Cert 12A

107 mins

BBFC advice: Contains suicide references, infrequent moderate bad language

Would we think Nomadland was as remarkable as it is if we didn't know that the majority of the cast really are people who live out of the back of vans?

Well, I had deliberately tried to avoid any news about it before Mrs W and I attended Nottingham Cineworld on one of its first days since re-opening.

This was no mean feat because it meant avoiding reportage of the Oscars at which Chloé Zhao's movie swept to glory.

Anyway, our initial post-movie discussions were focused on the brilliance of Frances McDormand and the subject of transient people and their lives on the move.

We agreed that Nomadland was a very good movie but realising how seamlessly McDormand and the only other known actor, David Strathairn, interact with real-life nomads creates an even deeper impact.

McDormand plays Fern, a widower who had worked in Empire, Nevada - a small town which was built up entirely around a gypsum mine.

In 2011, the mine closed and Fern's husband died soon afterwards and she was left on her own in a ghost town.

Thus, she is now roaming the country in a camper van, accepting work wherever she can find it.

But the rub is that she, in common with other nomads, has become addicted to the lifestyle - so, even when she is offered a comfortable bed, she prefers snuggling down in her vehicle.

Nomadland explores all facets of the on-the-road existence - from the struggle to get jobs to the simple effort to keep warm.

Fern makes brief friends with those of mobile home parks - official or otherwise - and shares stories of their current and past lives.

As said, all of these were found by Zhao and the movie's makers and are often describing real experiences.

Every one is a natural in front of the camera - indeed, they are so convincing I just could not believe they were actors.

And McDormand interacts with them as if she is one of them.

The excellence of Nomadland lies in its detail. The audience invests so deeply in Fern that something usually considered minor - such as an inherited plate being accidentally smashed - prompts the audience to gasp.

And it doesn't offer up any twee resolutions to the big questions it poses over the American economy,  religion and family.

But it does provoke reflection aplenty.

Reasons to watch: No other film like it

Reasons to avoid: Goes over the same ground quite a bit

Laughs: One

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? The Autumn Leaves plates Fern said were given to her by her father in the movie were REALLY gifted to McDormand by her own father when she graduated from college.

The final word. Chloé Zhao: “I have to be in love with my subject matter and want to learn more about it. Someone once said to me that passion doesn’t sustain, but curiosity does. I have to be excited by little things I discover along the way.” Indiewire

 

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