Nomadland is a beautiful collage, skillfully made by the bits and pieces of a widow’s life as she embraces the life of a nomad, after her husband’s death. It is an odyssey of self-realization and self-actualization where an ordinary individual understands her true potentials through the hardships of life. Nomadland is a celebration of the free spirit, liberty, and values.
This is not any regular movie laden with emotions, action, or thrills. In fact, this is a subtle piece of art working on soul searching, finding out the true philosophy of life. Director Chloe Zhao creates a masterpiece where death has been portrayed as a mere stoppage in the journey to the abode of eternal peace.
Frances McDormand as Fern is brilliant. Looks like she is getting even better with age. The last time she won my heart was through her brilliant act in the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and she delivers even better performance here. It is of no wonder that she bagged the best actor’s Academy Award for this role. Her nuanced performance is the soul of the movie. Another beautiful thing is that almost all the characters in the movie have been named after their original names. For example, Frances as Fern, Linda May as Linda, David Strathairn as Dave, Gay DeForest as Gay, and so on. All of the other actors do justice to their roles. And all the characters even with their personal limitations and flaws are uplifting, adorable and thoroughly researched.
The most brilliant aspect of the movie is its cinematography. The barren lands of Nebraska, Nevada or Arizona have been beautifully shot. The movement of the camera is always soothing and brings hope aesthetically. Sky has often been treated as a subject and its varied hues often signify the changing moods of the protagonist. Mother nature has often been used as a metaphor for the melancholy of Fern. Another aspect that will definitely move the viewer is its brilliantly penned dialogues. “I’m a houseless, not a homeless and I guess you know the difference”- sums up the spirit of Fern. As Bob Wells says “There’s a thing I love the most about traveling life, is that there’s no final goodbye, we just say I will see you down the road, and I do, maybe a month, a year or sometimes years, but I see them again”, you start introspecting the personal losses you have endured in your life.
Be warned that you are not going to experience any adrenaline rush in this masterpiece. It takes time to develop the premises. Like the philosophy enshrined in every frame of the movie, it is like a journey. And if you are in search of the true meaning of life, true values of existence, this is just the movie you want to watch before you die. If not, it is better to stay away.
My rating- 9 out of 10
Available on – Disney Hotstar
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