Title: Nomadland
Year: 2020
Director: Chloe Zhao
Country: US
Language: English
Nomadland (2020) was, admittedly, not on my radar for the 2020 Toronto Film Festival. It was only until yesterday (09/11/2020) when the amazing reviews started pouring in that I purchased a ticket for the newest Golden Lion award winner of the Venice Film Festival. I found out the news of the win just hours before we were set to watch it. This film is a critical hit; I wouldn't be surprised if it gets TIFF's People's Choice Award.
The film follows Fern, a woman in her sixties (Frances McDormand) who, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
Chloe Zhao's Nomadland is a stunning, mesemerizing Dickensian film with a fine tuned screenplay that emphasizes character, and chooses interaction and happenstance over story. It's an elegant picture that explores different ways of living during the timultuous times of 21st Century America. Filled with grief, but never wallowing in misery, and often having moments of joy, the picture is quite moving in the way it follows Fern as she carves out a place for herself in society.
Joshua James Richards’s sweeping cinematography is sure to win many Awards come Award Season. We not only see gorgeous landscapes of the country, but his slowly glide of camera through van-dwellers can feel lmost lyrical. The remarkable compositions create a stunning visual language that is only improved by Ludovico Einaudi's breathtaking score.
Nomadland is a masterwork that evokes many emotions and, as a film buff, reminds of so many great films of the past (Barbara Loden's Wanda, for instance). The only criticism I have is that the film may not be hard enough on the social forced that create Nomads like Fern, but ultimately the film is great despite this.
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