NOMADLAND
US, 2020, 108 minutes, Colour.
Frances Mc Dormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Swanky, Bob Wells, Derek Enders.
Directed by Chloe Zhao.
For an American audience, this is an opportunity to look at the people of the United States, the part-time workers who wander the land in their vans, as well as a look in detail at the very land itself. And, for non-American audiences, it is the same but it is also quite an eye-opener as it treks through the American nomadland in the various seasons of the year.
It is very surprising to find that the film has been directed by Chloe Zao, born in Beijing. She has clearly absorbed the American experience, has written a screenplay, adapting it from a book by Jessica Bruder, has produced the film, directed it and, making it very effective in its impact on the audience, edited the film. It is a tribute to her intelligence and empathy as well as to her cinematic skills and storytelling.
She is also aided immeasurably by the presence of Frances Mc Dormand (who took on the project and acts as one of the producers). Frances Mc Dormand has a distinctive screen presence and has had it for over 30 years – with two Oscars, Fargo and Three Billboards Outside Epping, Missouri, and many awards and nominations to her credit). As she has grown older, not concerned in the least about how she appears, she has embodied women who have had hard experiences and survived. And that is certainly the case with her character here, Fern, a widow who has seen her husband die of cancer, has lived in the town of Empire, Nevada, which in 2011 has had its gypsum factory fail, the town collapse and be deserted.
She has gone on the road, in her van, which she has made comfortable in its interiors so that she can spend her life there. She has a home, she says, though not a house! She joins a vast community of nomads who have a calendar where they can find part-time work at the various seasons of the year. We first see Fern at work in the huge packaging plant run by Amazon. Later she will work on the land, at an odd theme park with a huge dinosaur statue, in diners, cooking and washing up. But it is her choice, and she relishes this way of life, its being reinforced by a visit to her sister and family, to a short stay at the home of a friend whose family welcomes her.
By and large, the locations are in the American Midwest and south-west, scenes of the barren Dakotas, the derelict town in Nevada, nomad communities in Arizona – with an excursion to some mountains and to the coast. It is a distinctive American tour.
We are with Fern all the way – and, the director focuses more than frequently on Frances Mc Dormand’s face, the range of expressions, the intensity, the peace, the actress almost giving a performance with her face alone.
But, most significant, there are the nomads themselves. In a way, the screenplay is a series of vignettes, the range of people that Fern encounters at work, on the road, at garage sales, bartering, especially with her love of rocks, and a special friend, David, played by David Strathairn. The audience will surely be impressed by Fern’s conversations with several of the nomads – in a sense they are showstoppers.
There is Linda May who works at the factory, getting older, chatty, making friends with Fern, making the sharing of the nomads so credible. There is Bob Wells who has started a community in Arizona where all the nomads can come, stay, share, tell their stories, be listened to and heard by Bob. There is young Derek who asks Fern for a cigarette, later encounters him on the road, tells Fern his story, wanting to communicate with his girlfriend and Fern reciting Shakespeare, “Can I compare thee to summer’s day…� (Fern had been a part-time teacher).
But, most memorable, is Swanky, 75, diagnosed with terminal cancer, talking frankly and amiably with Fern, reminiscing about the travelling adventures of her past, of the vast cliff with swallow nests and the swarms of swallows, going on her way for more adventures until she dies, sending Fern a video of the cliff and the swallows. And Bob Wells leading a memorial celebration of Swanky as her friends all put a stone on a cairn in her honour.
And the discovery that Linda May, Bob Wells, Derek, Swanky are all nomads themselves and that this is the only screen appearance.
At the time of writing, the Oscars have not been nominated. Surely Nomadland will be nominated in several categories – and, it would be an appropriate ending for 2020 and US turmoil for Nomadland to win Best Picture, an important and profound portrait.
1. The title? The nomads? The US land? An American reality?
2. Acclaim for the film, for the director, writing, directing, producing, editing? In his background? Absorbing the American experience? The many awards nominations?
3. The locations, across the United States, the focus on the midwest, the south-west, Empire, Nevada, the wreckage of the town, the factories, the farms, theme parks, trailer parks, communities, scenic tours, the mountains and sea? The audience sharing a visit to the United States and meeting Americans?
4. The information about the nomads, the men and the women, their ages, working part-time, their calendar of jobs throughout the year, their bands and homes (having a home but not having a house)? Travel? The range of friendships, bonding, mutual help?
5. Swanky, Linda May, Derek, Bob Wells – as themselves, telling their own stories, authentic storytelling? Emotionally moving?
6. Frances Mc Dormand as Fern, her screen presence, the continued use of close-ups, the range of expression is on her face, her facial expressions as performance in themselves? Her age, leaving her family when young, the storage space and her later returning and discarding everything? Meeting Bo, marrying him, their life together, no children? His job in Empire, enjoying it, the house, the passing of the years, his cancer, hospitalisation and her sharing his suffering, the temptation to end his life, his death? And staying, the various jobs, part-time teaching (and her getting the young girl quoting Shakespeare? Her reciting the poem to Derek so that he could propose to his girlfriend? The closing of the town, her leaving, the eventual return visit, a tour of the house, dead, looking out to the open plan outside, letting go of all possessions?
7. Fern and her pain, the interiors, making them, comfortable, seeing the detail of her life in the van, sleeping, ill in the toilet, cooking…? The drive-in? The van and the vistas on the roads? Finding a place to park the van?
8. The work for Amazon, the vast plant, the packaging? Work on the farms, the theme park, Drug Well, the incidents with the crocodiles and the dinosaurs? Job in cooking, cleaning, dishwashing? Her interview for jobs, saying she loved work, not wanting to retire?
9. Linda May, her age, friendship, chatting with Fern and becoming close, the episode with the face masks?
10. Swanky, her life, her cancer, age, reassuring her friends, the range of travel in the past, exploits, the cliffs and the swallows, sending the video to Fern? Her death, the community gathering, putting the rock as a memorial?
11. Derek, young, wandering, asking for cigarette, the later encounter with, his family, on the road, talking about himself, girlfriend, awkwardness, Fern reciting the poem for him?
12. The wide range of people in the film, the family in the parking lot the birthday party for a little girl, friends, customers at garage sales, barter, the collecting rocks?
13. David, the encounters with him, the background of his life, the mines, on the road, jobs, sharing? The attraction to firm, their meetings, discussions, going to the dance, the tires? His dropping her plates and her mending them? His son’s arrival, the background, AA, the invitation for her to visit the family? Her doing this, the friendship of the family, invitation to stay, in the room, her not being able to stay?
14. The flat tire, the assessment, the possibility of selling the fan, not wanting to? Requests for financial support? Visiting her home, with her sister and family, the meals, the discussions? The money? As a loan?
15. The repetition of the year, to Amazon again…? The final visit to Empire, discarding the past, freedom, moving into a future?
