Nomadland
Year: 2021
Director: Chloe Zhao
Starring: Frances McDormand
Runtime: 108 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 25/05/21
Director: Chloe Zhao
Starring: Frances McDormand
Runtime: 108 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 25/05/21
It’s always exciting to see an Academy Award Best Picture winner. Despite the Academy being made up of a bunch of old white folks who are almost entirely out of touch with the real world, it’s always fascinating to see which film they have crowned as the best of the year. It’s the most sought-after award in Hollywood after all, so winning it comes with a level of prestige unlike any other, even if once the credits roll everyone is left wondering why the hell it was even up for consideration, let alone the winner.
The 2021 Oscars were made even more interesting when you add in the factor that almost none of the films up for consideration had been given wide releases. Audiences couldn’t truly comment on the nominees, and once everything was said and done, again nobody could really made solid judgement on what had been passed because so few of the films had actually been made available outside of small screenings in the U.S alone.
But Nomadland made headlines for director Chloe Zhao becoming the first woman of colour to win the Best Director title, as well as the picture being crowned the best of 2021, and leading lady Frances McDormand winning Best Actress. So, I finally bit the bullet and checked it out, I mean, it’s the best film of 2021, right?
In 2011 the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada, permanently closes its doors and as such many of the local residents are forced to leave town in order to find new work. The number of residents drops so low that the town loses its zip-code address and becomes a modern-day ghost town.
Fern (McDormand), a widowed sixty-two-year-old former plant worker leaves town to live on the road as a Nomad, unable to face living in any other house than the one she lived in with her husband.
Nomadland follows Fern over a year or so as she adjusts to life on the road, meets fellow Nomad’s in traveller communities, and hops from job to job when the time calls for it.
The 2021 Oscars were made even more interesting when you add in the factor that almost none of the films up for consideration had been given wide releases. Audiences couldn’t truly comment on the nominees, and once everything was said and done, again nobody could really made solid judgement on what had been passed because so few of the films had actually been made available outside of small screenings in the U.S alone.
But Nomadland made headlines for director Chloe Zhao becoming the first woman of colour to win the Best Director title, as well as the picture being crowned the best of 2021, and leading lady Frances McDormand winning Best Actress. So, I finally bit the bullet and checked it out, I mean, it’s the best film of 2021, right?
In 2011 the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada, permanently closes its doors and as such many of the local residents are forced to leave town in order to find new work. The number of residents drops so low that the town loses its zip-code address and becomes a modern-day ghost town.
Fern (McDormand), a widowed sixty-two-year-old former plant worker leaves town to live on the road as a Nomad, unable to face living in any other house than the one she lived in with her husband.
Nomadland follows Fern over a year or so as she adjusts to life on the road, meets fellow Nomad’s in traveller communities, and hops from job to job when the time calls for it.
I can’t stress enough how bored I was watching this film, and how tedious I found its general lack of direction and momentum. I clearly wasn’t the only one either as I watched it in a cinema, and out of the eight people in the screening only three of us were left come the credits.
Maybe I’m missing the point of Nomadland, but to me the film had no entertaining qualities about it. I didn’t learn anything, the characters had little to no personality, and even McDormand just spend most of the time looking miserable.
Nomadland’s ‘plot’ if you can call it that, is a collection of encounters that Fern has with other Nomads, and some of whom she has recurring encounters with. What often happens is the audience is introduced to a character, then in the next scene them and Fern are ‘close friends’ (despite Fern rarely indicating that she has any kind of attachment to this person), and then either they leave, or Fern does, and nobody ever says goodbye or has any kind of lasting effect on Fern’s journey.
There are only two exceptions to this. First is Swankie (Charlene Swankie) who Fern attends a wake of at the end of the film, clearly having had some kind of emotional attachment to her during the time they spent together (despite not showing it at the time). Second is Dave (David Strathairn) who has a romantic interest in Fern, who despite seeking him out on several occasions show no signs of even liking this man, and then again just leaves without anything being said or resolved.
The one thing I did like about Nomadland was the gorgeous landscape shots. Whilst the cinematography in general was unremarkable, the places chosen to shoot the film are truly stunning and really give you an appreciation for the wilderness that these Nomads live in. It does make me want to go and do a road trip around America just because of how stunning these environments are.
Unfortunately, though that’s where my praise ends, I can’t even commend the sound design because the entire film feels as though it’s scored with a single Ludovico Einaudi song. I’m sure he composed more than one track for this film, but I’ve listened to a lot of his work over the years and it all sounds very similar, so most of the film has the same sound to it, and combine that with the lack of momentum that the film has I feel like I would actually have had more fun just seeing a silent slideshow of the locations used in the film.
Looking at what critics have to say about this ‘phenomenal’ film, I’m clearly the only person who thinks like this. But to me Nomadland is just another example of the Academy awarding a film Best Picture because they think it’s philosophically engaging and intelligent, when in reality it’s just a bunch of meaningless conversations, performed with little to no emotion, cobbled together with a samey soundtrack.
At one point in the film Swankie says that she once saw a sight so beautiful that she could die a happy woman. Even if I never see Nomadland again, I will never die as happy I would without having seen it. If Chloe Zhao ever reads this review, I’d love that hour and fifty minutes of my life back, or at least to understand why people seem to love this film.
Maybe I’m missing the point of Nomadland, but to me the film had no entertaining qualities about it. I didn’t learn anything, the characters had little to no personality, and even McDormand just spend most of the time looking miserable.
Nomadland’s ‘plot’ if you can call it that, is a collection of encounters that Fern has with other Nomads, and some of whom she has recurring encounters with. What often happens is the audience is introduced to a character, then in the next scene them and Fern are ‘close friends’ (despite Fern rarely indicating that she has any kind of attachment to this person), and then either they leave, or Fern does, and nobody ever says goodbye or has any kind of lasting effect on Fern’s journey.
There are only two exceptions to this. First is Swankie (Charlene Swankie) who Fern attends a wake of at the end of the film, clearly having had some kind of emotional attachment to her during the time they spent together (despite not showing it at the time). Second is Dave (David Strathairn) who has a romantic interest in Fern, who despite seeking him out on several occasions show no signs of even liking this man, and then again just leaves without anything being said or resolved.
The one thing I did like about Nomadland was the gorgeous landscape shots. Whilst the cinematography in general was unremarkable, the places chosen to shoot the film are truly stunning and really give you an appreciation for the wilderness that these Nomads live in. It does make me want to go and do a road trip around America just because of how stunning these environments are.
Unfortunately, though that’s where my praise ends, I can’t even commend the sound design because the entire film feels as though it’s scored with a single Ludovico Einaudi song. I’m sure he composed more than one track for this film, but I’ve listened to a lot of his work over the years and it all sounds very similar, so most of the film has the same sound to it, and combine that with the lack of momentum that the film has I feel like I would actually have had more fun just seeing a silent slideshow of the locations used in the film.
Looking at what critics have to say about this ‘phenomenal’ film, I’m clearly the only person who thinks like this. But to me Nomadland is just another example of the Academy awarding a film Best Picture because they think it’s philosophically engaging and intelligent, when in reality it’s just a bunch of meaningless conversations, performed with little to no emotion, cobbled together with a samey soundtrack.
At one point in the film Swankie says that she once saw a sight so beautiful that she could die a happy woman. Even if I never see Nomadland again, I will never die as happy I would without having seen it. If Chloe Zhao ever reads this review, I’d love that hour and fifty minutes of my life back, or at least to understand why people seem to love this film.