Film Review: Nomadland

 Film: Nomadland

Stars: 5

Thteatre: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Oh my, oh my, oh my.

Nomadland is the treat I get for taking Blarney's boys to see Godzilla vs King Kong on Tuesday. 

I'm also putting it down to research for the novel. such is it's themes and impacts. I can see why it's up for six Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress. This is a phenomenal film. As beautiful as it is harsh as it is thought provoking. 

It's quite a simple story when it all boils down to it. Fern (Frances McDormand), a widow, who has lost everything in the GFC, is living in her van while doing transient work around the West of the United States. Grieving while trying to make a life for herself, she goes from job to job, and trailer park to trailer park, living on her wits and her intellect. 

Is she homeless? Not really, as she tells an old student, 'No, I'm not homeless. I'm just house-less. Not the same thing, right?'

Fern is one of the many nomad, living a life on the road, part by choice, part by necessity.

Along the way, she meets a throng of people, each having a different story to tell. The cast is mainly sourced from the nomadic people who are living on the road. Linda May and Swankie, who steal some of the movie as Fern's friends on the road. Swankie makes a huge impresssion. These friends help Fern find her feet as she moves around from South Dakota, to Nevada, to Arizona and onwards. 

She also meets Dave, an interesting man with a history which needs divulging and an obvious romantic interest. Dave is played by David Strathairn, who always manages to slay me, no matter what he's in (Good Night, and Good Luck anybody?) Dave is found by his son and returns with him to see his grandchild come into the earth. He invites Fern to come and stay with him. And you wonder. 

There is so much to unpack in this film. The scenery. The spot on directing by Chloe Zhao, who you get a feeling let her 'characters' tell their own stories. There's the superlative performance by Frances McDormand, who may very well walk away with another Best Actress Oscar. There's also David Strathairn, who I find devastating in everything he's in. There's the cinematography, which encapsulates the harshness of van life and Ludovico Einaudi's incredible soundtrack. 

And there is the transient life that many choose, working minimum wage jobs around the country, staying here and there under the stars, with no fixed address and a set of wheels. This shows another side of America. It's not pretty, but it has an honour and romance you cannot deny. 

Chatting to a friend, she found the film rather depressing. For me, I was bowled over by the agency of these people and their life on the road. In their own ways, they were living their truths. You got to see and hear stories you wouldn't normally witness. I found myself crying near the end. Not out of sadness, but out of pride for Fern and her decisions. 

Like Promising Young Woman, Nomadland has earned its place on the Oscars list. 

Top film. See it on the big screen before it goes.

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