Nomadland Movie Review: Into the wild

NomadlandUA DramaDirector Chloe ZhaoCast Frances McDormand David StrathairnRating 12Given the quantum of content hitting us with the speed of light every minute how long must it take to anoint a filmseries as a classic already mdash having survived the strands of time to make it soI think 1314 years is an adequate distance to reflect from Sean Pennrsquos Into the Wild 2007 in case yoursquove rewatched it lately remains the classic story of disillusionment of youth life of solitude and wanderlust in the wilderness set in the rsquo90s the USHow comparable for its subject is Into the Wild to Nomadland At first I felt the two films are as different as choices are to circumstances Frances McDormand mdash equally naked on screen as superyoung Emile Hirsch in Into the Wild mdash is but an old single woman in postrecession 2011 AmericaWatch Nomadland TrailerHer husband is no more The town itself in which she lived with him for decades does not exist It shut down because it was a factory township And that factory doesnrsquot existShe identifies herself as ldquohouselessrdquo Instead of ldquohomelessrdquo Driving around by herself in an RV recreational vehicle the wheels guide her through mountains national parks and valleys to the next boondock that can offer her a temporary job mdash before she can drive off againCould you get used to this socalled unsettled life Thatrsquos the question the film is centred on mdash allowing for multiple possibilities where her life could go but never once settling for an answer for her that might make you go ldquoThen why was I watching this all alongrdquoNot that there is a unique answer for such a question Depends on who you are Herersquos the thing though While on the face of it Nomadland seems singularly the story of McDormandrsquos character Fern and her doughty spirit it actually maps a thriving American subculture of vandwellers choosing to live alone on the road Strangely in an Easy Rider 1969 sort of way although in another phaseIrsquom told some of McDormandrsquos coactors in this film play fictional versions of their real selves One of whom Bob Wells a vandwelling evangelist of sorts I intend to read more about Nomadland is based on Jessica Bunderrsquos nonfiction account of the same nameAll of which lends this narrative a sense of truth higher than realism mdash also surveying an America leading up to Trump dealing with social insecurity jobloss and clueless hopelessnessOr the ageold fact of age itself and it being a terminal disease isnrsquot it mdash healthrsquos all you got That coupled with loss of purpose or loved ones or companionship with only memories to hold on toOr even the wish to break free from all of it You can technically load all that yoursquove loved into a frickinrsquo van The subtext is only in the suggestions At no point does the script linger on any of it any longer than it shouldThis is the sort of slowburn meditation on the evening of workingclass life that British dramas especially excel at mdash may I nominate Mike Leighrsquos Another Year 2010 and Ken Loachrsquos I Daniel Blake 2016 in particular as potential classics alreadyChineseborn Chloe Zhao has directed the quintessentially American Nomadland A reason such movies regularly get made in the US and released in the early part of the year is because they have the Oscars to give the inclusive independent cinema the global pushplatform it deservesAs I write this Nomadland has pretty much swept the board with six Academy Award nominations four of which mdash best picture direction editing and adapted screenplay mdash are for Zhao herself Shersquos produced directed written and edited the filmMaybe itrsquos her foreign gaze but this is an America with its vistas that you rarely encounter in mainstream Hollywood Likewise the beats and rhythms feel more episodically livedin as an experience rather than too formally structured as a screenplayBoth of which I suspect are ideally enjoyed as immersive moments on the big screen Which isnrsquot how I watched this film Maybe that or simply the Oscar hype surrounding it this empathygenerating machine didnrsquot draw me in to move me to tears in a way that I thought it would Perhaps that was intended It got me thinking all right Returning to the detached humanism Frances McDormand as Fern personifies And almost as an impulse to click on the Eddie Vedder songs Guarantee and Society from Into The Wild for some reason to revel in the life of social escapism and tempting wilderness all over again That soundtrack with this gentle film rightly evokes the same response

Nomadland Movie Review: Into the wild

Nomadland
U/A: Drama
Director: Chloe Zhao
Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn
Rating: ***1/2

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Home / Entertainment / Hollywood News / Article / Nomadland Movie Review: Into the wild

Nomadland Movie Review: Into the wild

NomadlandU/A: DramaDirector: Chloe ZhaoCast: Frances McDormand, David StrathairnRating: ***1/2

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Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Nomadland
U/A: Drama
Director: Chloe Zhao
Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn
Rating: ***1/2