Nomadland, bleak and beautiful
I watched Nomadland yesterday ‘with’ friends and family watching on their respective devices. I didn’t know too much about the movie except for the big Oscar wins and I heard a little about the director, Chloe Zhao on the radio. I didn’t expect I would be quite so emotional, dabbing my eyes throughout.
Frances McDormand stars in Nomadland and she was also one of the movie’s producers. I really liked Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Frances McDormand once again captures the soul and spirit of an independent woman, of lower income, grieving and trying to make her way in the world. Gentle and caring, both her character and the story show the compassionate and loving friendship between women, sisters and community.
The other star of Nomadland is the USA. Europeans often criticise and mock statistics like ‘more than half of Americans don’t have passports’ but look at the size, scale and beauty of the USA and one can appreciate why. Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland is filmed during Winter and captures the deserts, mountains, the giant Redwoods and much more. Of course the story is bleak but gentle and emotional, with the scenery complementing perfectly.
On another level, Nomadland could be seen as a social commentary in the USA; working class, seasonal workers, ageism all feature. Nomadland captures the narrative of people we seldom hear from, Amazon workers, cleaners, seasonal workers. I’m really happy this film won three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Director the film deserves it and, based on true stories, we needed to see how our world treats people and how this group of people is trying to navigate around the edges.
Often criticised for discrimination, the Oscars went all out this year with diversity and inclusion. Chloe Zhao is Chinese and not a well known director. However, this year she has made history by becoming the first woman of colour, and only the second woman, to win the best director award.
Nomadland is streaming only on Disney + and will apparently be released at cinemas but with Covid-19 and all that jazz, watching from home still does it justice.