Nomadland

The anthropologist Philip Carl Salzman noted in 1983 that nomadic people tend to behave more independently, display self-sufficiency, and emphasize autonomy. These ideas are visualized in Nomadland, the new film adapted for the screen by Chloé Zhao, especially through its main character, Fern, played by Frances McDormand, in this cyclical drama about a woman who lives out of her van, working from temporary job to temporary job. 

But Nomadland isn't simply a look at the psychology of an independent-minded nomad criss-crossing her way in a van across the American west. It's also a look at how economics can profoundly impact everyday people. Based on the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder about older Americans looking for seasonal work after the Great Recession, Fern is a fictional character in a real-life crisis many will recognize.   

With all that has happened in the past year, it might be easy to forget that 73,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the United States since 2001. Even without the pandemic, things have radically changed for a significant amount of workers in this country. Despite things in large part getting better (at least before the pandemic), the nation has tolerated certain segments of the public being left behind. It's the price we apparently are willing to pay. Nomadland is a reminder of the cruelty in doing so. 

Fran was married to a man for years before his death, and they both worked in Empire, Nevada, the real-life census-designated place that now is a ghost town. With the factory closed and her job lost, Fran, with limited options, gets rid of most of her stuff and departs Empire to search for work. The first job we see Fern work in after she leaves is for Amazon in a warehouse for seasonal work. It's a bit surprising that Amazon would agree to let the production film there, but to paraphrase Wilfred Chan at Variety, Amazon is treated with kid gloves. Chan writes that "because the film is primarily a character study of [Fran], it exchanges Bruder's sharp indignation over capitalist exploitation for a muddled message about individual freedom that downplays the real stakes of gig labor." I agree. It all sometimes feels like quasi-Amazon propaganda, that they're the good guys trying to help those in need, when in fact, they often make the problem worse. 

Zhao, to her credit, deserves praise for telling stories that most Americans never hear. Her previous film, the 2017 drama The Rider, focused on Native Americans in the Badlands and also featured a non-trained acting cast. The main character in that film is a rodeo star struggling with poverty after his career is cut short due to an injury. Her screenplay adaption of Nomadland, as Chan said, avoids the more overtly political messages of its source material, but it at least feels authentic and humanist. For example, the way the story occasionally jumps forward without showing us every step of Fern's path helps the film show the vast scope of her difficult and eventful year. 

Aside from a little bit of Fern's background, not much of the others' is given, but this is not required. This film is purely about these characters' present. One important piece of information given, though, is when someone glibly defends Fran's nomadic ways as being a part of "American tradition" similar to the Pilgrims, and there's just so many mixed feelings upon hearing something like that. It's an important moment in the script. Zhao also deserves praise for offering friendly reminders of the gorgeousness of the west, especially as Fern goes to various locations, like Badlands National Park and redwoods. 

And of course, should Zhao be nominated for Best Director, it will also be due to her ability to get exceptional performances from her cast members, both from the traditional and untraditional actors. In films like Nomadland, often the non-trained actors are more interesting than the trained ones. This is particularly true of real-life nomads in the film, namely Bob Wells, Swankie, and Linda May, who play fictional versions of themselves. McDormand and especially David Strathairn (the only other professional actor in the cast), though, have made a career of often being as naturalistic as possible, so they fit in seamlessly. 

Yet this isn't to suggest that there are no issues with Nomadland. One issue is the focus on Fern's search for answers as much as for work. This is a slightly uncomfortable part of the film, almost suggesting that her struggles are due to some kind of "free spirit" and migratory disposition instead of the seismic changes to the workplace and a nation leaving behind a significant amount of its workers. Fern isn't necessarily a vagrant, proudly (sometimes stubbornly) refusing a helping hand or a warm bed and stability. "You know I'll pay you back, right?" she asks in one moment when given some money. It would be tempting to use words like "odyssey" for how Nomadland unfolds, for that would romanticize poverty, but sometimes it's just how the film feels. It shouldn't feel that way, though. It shouldn't feel like an adventure.