Nomadland
Directed by Chloé Zhao
Produced by Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao
Screenplay by Chloé Zhao
Based on Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder
Starring Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Swankie
Music by Ludovico Einaudi
The tone of Nomadland is that of a documentary. Indeed, many of the people in the movie are people playing themselves, and the surroundings are real-life locales, rather than sets, It’s much closer to being real than nearly all movies ever get.
If it was a documentary, it would be a rather inept one, since in portraying the lifestyle of Nomadland, it glosses over the fact that many people don’t want to be a part of that subculture, they aren’t equipped to be a part of that subculture, and it ends up killing a lot of them. They were ground up and spat out by the wheels of capitalism and society’s general heartlessness. Most people on that road, for example, don’t have a sister who can slip them $2,300 when their van breaks down.
It’s also got a idyllic view of how to economically survive. Fern (McDormand) is shown in an Amazon warehouse, where she has time to chat and socialize while wrapping boxes with the sort of casual care given to family Christmas presents. No mention of workers having to wear diapers because they aren’t given time to take bathroom breaks, or the unending surveillance of gimlet-eyed supervisors intent on not allowing any instant of the day to be wasted.
But it’s not a documentary. It’s a drama, and the added realism of being on-site and having actual residents in front of the cameras leads to a breathtaking meld of real life and cinematic agony. It’s hard to strike a good balance between non-fiction and story-telling, but when it’s done right, the emotional and social impact can be immense. Think Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Grapes of Wrath, or One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Nomadland gets it right. The non-professional actors were, to one degree or another, scripted (Swankie in real life did not have and doesn’t have cancer), but allowed to be themselves following the script. McDormand turns in a career performance (she told Zhao before being cast that she had a fantasy of retiring at age 65, changing her name to “Fern” and hitting the road. After the movie was made, she admitted that she probably didn’t have what it would take to be a member of Nomadland).
The movie is further enhanced by the ethereal piano of Ludovico Einaudi, who strikes a perfect tone of cheerful and haunting, complementing the story perfectly.
Now on Hulu.