NYFF Review: Chloe Zhao's "Nomadland"
Friday, September 25, 2020 at 2:03PM
You know you are not watching just any old prestige drama when a film throws in a shot of its lead character - played by a 2-time Oscar winner - defecating a mere three minutes into its running time. Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland is a film concerned with the concrete realities of life. Things that might seem mundane or unmentionable but take up a big part of everyday life. How a woman carves a small place on earth to sleep, eat, work and yes defecate.
Fern (Frances McDormand), having lost her work and home when the factory that employed her in a now-defunct company town closed, refurbishes her old van and sets out in the vastness of the American West to find seasonal work. She rests when she can, deals with the elements and makes tentative attempts to find a community among the older itinerant people she meets. They exchange DIY tips for survival, share stories and sometimes companionship. But mostly Fern is stubbornly on her own. She is grieving her husband, town and job. Combating her constant grief by constantly moving...
Zhao, who wrote the script adapting Jessica Bruder’s acclaimed 2017 nonfiction book, gives us a year in Fern’s life. In vignettes of scenes we get to know Fern and her world. The script is as sparse as Fern is withholding, hinting at Zhao’s observational methods. With the exception of David Strathairn as a fellow traveller somewhat smitten with Fern, everyone we meet is played by a non-actor giving us a bit of their biography making the story and setting authentic. Fern meets someone, we get a bit about them and then we move on. To the next place, the next person, the next season of Fern’s life. There’s a lot of “nice to meet you” moments hinting at the loneliness of this life. While we may want to know more about one character or the other, Zhao stays true to the title of the film in her narrative.
Captivating are the occasions when Fern gets in touch with nature. Like when Zhao captures her serenely swimming nude. Or when she cuts a friend’s hair, the camera showing us a tactile friendship as her fingers linger on the hair. McDormand delivers a clear-eyed quiet performance infused with her trademark no-nonsense demeanor and flashes of humor as she highlights Fern’s stubbornness. This is a woman set in her ways and clinging to solitude like armor.
Less successful are the scenes trying to place Fern in relation to her family. Those feel forced and unearned, as if belonging to a different movie. One that is not mired in the credible community of nomads but rather a clumsy class comedy in which Fern makes earnest proclamations about the pitfalls of capitalism and the real estate market. It's as if these scenes are trying to explain why McDormand spends the rest of the film among non-actors and not about giving Fern more context.
Adding to the stirring atmosphere Zhao creates are the score by Ludovico Einaudi and cinematography by her frequent collaborator Joshua James Richards. Nomadland builds to an affecting experience as it reaches its climax. Never answering the question whether being a nomad is a choice for Fern or was she forced into it by economic necessity. Therein lies its strength, it has so convincingly shown this world that what seemed clear at the beginning - that she was forced into it - becomes murkier.
Nomadland is sold out at NYFF but is expected to open in December.
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Reader Comments (17)
I do hope to see this as I saw The Rider this past summer as I was floored by it.
Nice review,seems Frances is thankfully doing something different,it looks a beautiful film,can McDormand win again.
I'm a fan of Zhao's THE RIDER and I'm really looking foward NOMADLAND. Plus, I really want to see McDormand in a more quiet/peaceful performance... Not a fan of her dynamite/over-the-top Oscar-winning turn in 3BILLBOARDS.
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One question: is Einaudi's score good enough to compete at the Oscars?
Ed -- the score is very good but its super minimal. so i wonder if it will have "enough" music to be considered eligible.
Mark -- happy to report that she is very different here than usual. LOVED her performance but doubt she could win for this (it's very quiet and subtle)
Yeah I really need to see McDormand give a different kind of performance. It’s been the same
thing for a while now.
Loved the movie, cinematography, and Zhao's stunning achievement!
McDormand's deeply felt, intimately connected performance is one for the ages. No melodramatics, no attempt to steal scenes, and the result is as honest as life itself.
The performance is similar to Staunton's Vera Drake. A quiet and subtle performance but packs a wallop .
Please let McDormand win another BA Oscar and silence all those you-know-who fans. I can't wait to see this. Thanks for the lovely review.
I have to say I LOOOOVED the score -- I loved the movie as a whole and McDormand's performance, but the score was my favorite thing of all
Maybe McDormand can finally win NYFCC best actress for this?
Nice review of a movie I'm dying to see. Also: nice to see Murtada back here, missed your work!
Back and with his best piece in years. Missed you Murtada, very promising return!!!
By the look and reviews I kinda wished it was Annette Bening leading this and winning her overdue Oscar
Saw this and it is stunningly beautiful. Having a few family members who have lived life at times along these lines, I'd say the family interactions felt true in their clunky nature. People who are fiercely independent like Fern often stumble in forced social situations. Agree with everything else you said though.
Zhao really made something special here, and McDormand delivered what may be the best performance of her career (but it's hard to compare with Fargo, because they are so different).
Swankie for Best Supporting Actress. Her exquisite monologue merits inclusion with other great untrained actors in film history including recent Best Actress nominee Yalitza Aparicio in Roma.
Rob and Lupe - wonderful to see your kind comments, much appreciated. It's nice to connect again with the film experience readers. However I haven't stopped writing. Click on my name above and on my twitter you'll find my writing for other publications including recently reviews of Lovers Rock, The Boys in the Band, Misbehavior and Blackbird.
I'm a you-know-who fan and I would love to see McDormand win her third Oscar for this. I don't think one woman's achievements diminish those of another.
Her performance is extraordinary, tinged with wisdom, experience, and sadness, and it feels like it is deeply embedded in her character. Maybe you wish another actress were receiving the same reviews, but it is impossible to imagine another actress giving this performance.
The score is wonderful and I do hope it receives attention throughout awards season.
It's incredibly strange that a character actor like McDormand is a magnet for lead wins. Also, if she wins again she'll join Day-Lewis with three lead wins from six nods. Albeit, the ones she didn't win for were supporting.