|
|
Nomadland
Feb 22, 2021 20:32:20 GMT
via mobile
Post by Marv on Feb 22, 2021 20:32:20 GMT
A really captivating look into the life of the ‘house less’...RV people...constant travelers or whatever they want to call themselves. Fictional story that borders on documentary, about a woman who lost pretty much everything before the start of the film...town goes bankrupt, husband dies, etc. and begins traveling in her van while working odd jobs at places like Amazon or shoveling trash or waitress at a badlands restaurant. There’s a lot of layers here. The inherent freedom of being nomadic also comes with inherent poverty and things that your average citizen may get annoyed at like a flat tire is detrimental to their very existence! I just finished it and I’m honestly not sure how I feel about the whole thing. Parts are beautiful...being closer to nature, the ability to travel around seeing this wonderful land (America). But it’s a gritty life...pooping in buckets, sleeping in a car during cold nights...the constant search for a place to park where you won’t get a knock on the door telling you to move along. It’s an interesting life and knowing that many side characters in the film are actual ‘van people’ or nomads themself really lends an authenticity to it. The film comes across as both beautiful and sad in many ways. I really enjoyed it.
|
|
|
|
Post by moviemouth on Feb 22, 2021 21:34:43 GMT
Good movie about loss, change, the unknown future ahead and how we take those things as they come.
I really like the feel of the movie. The editing, the cinematography and the quiet calm landscapes. I like how it contrasts Amazon and the cold disconnected feeling there compared to the warm open feeling of the other places she gets work. Frances McDormand gives a subtle and natural performance that brings it all together. Nice work from David Strathairn too and the various other characters she meets on her journey. The movie has a very human quality to it.
7.5/10
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2021 19:39:36 GMT
I always find movies like this kind of patronizing. Some critic once called Winter's Bone "poverty porn" and I feel like this is part of that same genre.
We're made to pity her situation which she only ever seems to enjoy in fleeting moments, yet she turns down several opportunities to change or improve it. I don't think some directors can really grasp the idea of not having and even surrendering their wealth and privileges, nor the idea of not having anywhere or anyone to turn to when impoverished. The director's dad ran a steel factory and her stepmom is a famous actress...just saying. Poor people choose to be poor, and you cannot enjoy life outside of a sleek filmmaker existence. Let us make a movie about a Nomad without really understanding Nomads. At least we care, so give us an award.
If you want to make a documentary, make a documentary. Watching Frances McDornand purse her lips for 2 hours trying and not always succeeding to behave like she hasn't been a successful actress for 40 years (I don't think someone living in a van in the wild for very long would squeel at the sight of a rabbit being eaten), interacting with non-actors who are obviously non-actors trying awkwardly to sum up their life in a few sentences for a voyeuristic camera. Meh.
|
|
|
|
Post by bravomailer on Mar 6, 2021 22:26:14 GMT
I thought the film concentrated on Fern's grit, not her plight.  |
|
|
|
Post by politicidal on Mar 7, 2021 15:58:58 GMT
The CCP does not approve of the director. There's a surprise.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vits on Jun 1, 2021 11:06:55 GMT
NOMADLAND showcases a very particular way of living that only some individuals are a part of, and yet, it manages to encapsulate what life is all about. All human beings interact with someone every day. Yes, even loners with strangers. Each interaction can be a meaningful experience as long as we allow it to be. The protagonist of this movie (Fern) isn't the most extreme example since she does have friends and living relatives, but she doesn't see them on a daily basis, so she can still feel lonely. No matter the problem (emotional or not), she always gets back up and carries on. Most of her encounters with other people (including the brief ones) are full of joy and subtle humor, thanks partly to Frances McDormand's contagious smile. Early on, we see Fern telling her new friend Swankie about her late husband Bo. Fern says that she thought about assisted suicide while he was sick, but Swankie tells her that maybe Bo wouldn't have wanted it. That maybe he wanted to stay with Fern as long as he could. Why is this dialogue so great? Because during a previous exchange, Swankie said that she supports euthanasia to the point where she would do it to herself. That's right: A person picked a side in a highly debated topic but still has enough empathy to look at things from the other side in order to make another person feel better. Is there anything in this movie that doesn't work? Well, there are too many cuts during the scenes where there's nothing happening but a conversation. I'm sure it was done for pacing reasons, since it's not a very eventful plot, but it's still excessive. However, it's not bad enough to overshadow other artistic and technical aspects. Besides, editor/producer/writer/director Chloé Zhao redeems herself with the immersive montages and with the clever ways in which she ends a scene and starts the next one. She throws viewers in the middle of a situation with enough hints for us understand what's going on and to figure out how much time has passed. Honestly, I didn't want the movie to end. 10/10 ------------------------------------- You can read comments of other movies in my blog. |
|
