by Conan Simmons – February 20, 2021 – 7:34 pm
Soon after the beginning of the Great Recession created by the housing crises of 2008, communities such as the small industrial town of Empire, Nevada became practically non-existent seemingly overnight. Fern (Frances McDormand) is one of the many whose life has been upended by the economic downfall. Widowed and forced out of her home, Fern has taken to living out of her van traveling around the country taking on small jobs until the call of the open road beckons her forever onward.
Staying in the occasional camp occupied by fellow nomads, sporadic communities come together and share stories and songs before dispersing on down the road. Very few, if any, lasting connections are made by those living this wandering lifestyle. The connections that are made, at best, appear momentarily before going separate ways.
One such connection is Dave (David Strathairn). Dave subtly takes a liking to Fern. Understanding the reality of their respective situation Dave never makes a strong push toward advancing a relationship with Fern. Instead, he opts for whatever brief opportunity presents the chance for spending time with Fern, be it a drink or just a quick conversation. Loneliness and the lack of connection makes romance futile in a here today, gone tomorrow lifestyle. Dave clearly wants something more stable than the open road world, whereas Fern has contented herself to having no anchor.
‘Nomadland’ is high quality docudrama directed by Chloé Zhao and based on the book by Jessica Bruder. Leaning heavily into documentary form as most of the people appearing in the film are real life nomads, Frances McDormand is perfectly cast in a role that forces her to ease into the world around her. There is no Hollywood glamour to be found in ‘Nomadland’, the entire film is grittily realistic with the emphasis being on the feeling of the disconnected, nomadic lifestyle.
Chloé Zhao directs the film in a very sensualistic manner. Wide shots of big empty landscapes, flowing camera movements traversing the temporary camps as Fern wanders around, closeups mostly relegated to punctuating the cramped quarters of living in a van. Chloé Zhao has the best chance at winning the Oscar for Best Director, though it may come down to Oscar voters’ subjective opinions regarding the varying styles of the competitors. Chloé Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’ is stylistically very different from Regina King’s ‘One Night in Miami’, though both are exceptionally directed.
Chloé Zhao takes an approach to directing ‘Nomadland’ in a way that is rare to American cinema. It is a film that resembles less anything made by Hollywood and more inline with the Italian neorealist movement of the late 1940’s and 50’s. Chloé Zhao, who hails from Beijing, China, applies the neorealist template to the American landscape, building on what directors like Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini established with their post-war classics. Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’ may be heralding a new wave of realist cinema in conjunction with other notable entries over the last year, most memorably Eliza Hittman’s ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’.
Frances McDormand, already a multiple Oscar winner for her roles in ‘Fargo’ and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, makes her wonderfully underplayed role of Fern into a major awards contender. Already nominated for a Golden Globe, McDormand is practically guaranteed a nomination come Oscar time. Her role in ‘Nomadland’ is remarkably subtle and comparable to the fantastically natural performance of Willem Dafoe in ‘The Florida Project’, a role which brought Dafoe an Oscar nom but not a win (he lost to Sam Rockwell that year). Frances McDormand, likewise, is not a guarantee win for the category, as there are no scenery chewing monologues or blistering diatribes, the film favors the quiet, transcendent moments.
As to the chances of ‘Nomadland’ winning Best Picture, it is a nicely produced movie that relies mostly on Zhao’s directing to keep the balance of documentary style with the few scripted scenes, such as a particular scene where Fern defends her lifestyle choice while being noticeably frustrated by it. If ‘Nomadland’ does win it will be the second docudrama to win since ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ took the award for 1952. The major difference between the two productions is ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ interspersed documentary footage within the Hollywood story filled with big name stars, ‘Nomadland’ does the opposite by interspersing a few scenes of Frances McDormand and David Strathairn in with a heavy documentary style of film.
‘Nomadland’ is likely not to be a big hit among audiences that favor the popcorn fueled amusement rides that are superheroes and Star Wars. It is an arthouse film that seeks more to spark a conversation about themes and subject matter than providing lowest common denominator thrills. It’s all the more interesting knowing that director Chloé Zhao’s next film is the Marvel entry ‘The Eternals’ starring Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie.