Nomadland

 

“What the nomads are doing is not that different than what the pioneers did.”


There is no doubt Nomadland is a beautiful movie. Visually is mesmerizing, it shows America’s vastness and beauty, there were such sublime and awe-inspiring landscapes that no blockbuster movie could have ever achieved. All that thanks to Joshua James Richards’ realistic photography, it manages to highlight and even amplify the rawness and authenticity of the surroundings, alongside with the harmonious music of Ludovico Einaudi and the majestic direction of Chloé Zhao, it creates a superb piece of work for the sight and hearing.

The movie itself feels like a documentary, not just for the dialogues of the real life vandwellers, but also the way it’s filmed. The camera follows Fern, the protagonist, on her journey, on her temporary jobs, on her nomad reunions, it documents the life of a nomad and the people she meets during her trip. Frances McDormand disappears in her role(even some of her “co-stars” believed she was a nomad like them). She always portrays strong, independent women, but mostly she’s great at depicting human beings, who arouse compassion, but never give up on the difficulties of life, but roll up their sleeves and fight every day against adversity. It’s usually the kind of character I feel more empathy with, because it reminds me of my mom, who was and is an independent and strong woman and my forever role model.

But I have some issues with the plot, more specifically with the fact that it’s never explained why nobody hires Fern for a longer time, why all the jobs are temporary(I didn’t read the book nor I’m aware of USA’s temporary job politics). Another thing is the memory of Fern’s husband, she clearly cannot move on with her life, she’s constantly thinking of him, but we don’t have a flashback of him or not even a picture, just Fern’s stories of him. I think a flashback would have made the story more engaging. Some scenes become redundant, like showing her temporary jobs again and again, it just gets tedious and you may lose your interest after a while. Maybe it’s made on purpose in order to emphasize the loop Fern is stuck into, but I don’t think it was necessary.

Nonetheless Nomadland is a movie that will make you reflect, it deals with many social questions: the economical crisis, the precarious work and its consequences, the new nomads, but I think the biggest protagonist is nature and the sense of freedom which gives you, that no money will ever buy it. Freedom is what motivates Fern to keep wandering and accept the kind of life she leads. Isn’t freedom what we are all longing for?