Nomadland Wins Big at the Oscars
This year’s Best Picture film at the 93rd Oscars, Nomadland, explores the peace of itinerant living, married with the poetic cinematography of the American West.
Best Actress in a Leading Role winner Frances McDormand plays Fern, who hits the road in her van she named “Vanguard” after her life disappeared off the map with the extinction of her factory-centered small town and the death of her husband.
Chloé Zhao fluidly directs this documentary-feeling drama aided by genuine non-actors, to tell the realities of modern nomadic living. With the narration of desert landscapes weaving in and out through scenes of literal and self-exploration, Zhao expertly captures the agency of these impromptu communities living their lives the way they want, despite the past struggles that may have gotten them there.
This film nuances many experiences of the often-ignored consequences of the American Dream, like poverty and financial strain, in a non-exploitative way that doesn’t call for a pity party, but a curiosity to look at life outside the lens of urban coastal living. For Fern, she faces the tension of wanting to be a free agent or settling her roots in one place, but ultimately returns to her foundation to get a mixture of both.
Zhao took home Best Director, being the first woman of color to claim the prize, awarding her stylistic approach of organic moments in time that string this film together.
Although sometimes stagnantly patient which may come from the influence of this lifestyle, Nomadland is a must-see to remind us of the happiness and sometimes unhappy moments that come with embracing free will and affliction, something we all can relate to more than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic.
