Adaptation Evaluation: ‘Nomadland’

“We not only accept the tyranny of the dollar, the tyranny of the marketplace, we embrace it. We gladly throw the yoke of the tyranny of the dollar on and live by it our whole lives.” So says Bob Wells, a sort of van life guru, when we first see him in Nomadland as he’s speaking to congregants at a desert gathering. While Nomadland’s largely a work of fiction, Bob Wells is a real person, so who we see isn’t simply a fictional character in Nomadland, or maybe he is a fictionalized version of himself, even if he really is Bob Wells. It’s a little complicated.

Chloé Zhao’s deeply felt film chronicles the itinerant existence of Fern, a woman who has lost both her job and her husband and through both choice and circumstances, begins living out of her van. While Fern, played with an understated brilliance by Frances McDormand, is a fictional character, Zhao populates the film with actual van-dwelling nomads, like Bob Wells and others.

It’s a bold gambit from Zhao. While it’s not uncommon for directors to use untrained actors for verisimilitude, something that Zhao has done before, it’s rare to see untrained actors play themselves and interact with fictionalized characters like we see here. Instead of drawing the audience closer to reality, this creative decision risks simply drawing attention to the film’s duplicity. And yet, it works. Thanks to McDormand’s acting and Zhao’s naturalistic direction, Nomadland weaves together truth and fiction into a beautiful examination of life on the economic margins.

The Movie

At the start of Nomadland, an intertitle card informs us about the closing of the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada, a company town whose economy was built almost entirely around the Gypsum mine. When the mine closed, the town dried up, eliminating even the zip code 89405. A former employee, Fern, lost not only her job but also her husband to cancer, and without a steady income, decides to start living in her van and taking odd jobs.

Her first destination is an Amazon warehouse where she meets fellow van dweller, Linda May (played by the real-life Linda May), who convinces Fern to join her at a Nevada gathering for those living the van life hosted by real-life YouTube personality, Bob Wells. It’s here that the issue of economic precarity becomes more pronounced. While few if any of these people are living a nomadic life fully voluntarily, there’s a sense in these gatherings that they can come together to build each other up. Although cast across the landscape, they are not alone.

In addition to Bob Well and Linda May, we also meet another real-life nomad, Swankie who takes the time to mentor Fern, teaching her to weatherize her van and chastising her when Fern’s tire blows and she doesn’t have a spare. It’s in these interactions with non-professional actors playing themselves that reveals McDormand’s magnificent performance. Non-professional actors are often used to establish verisimilitude, and by necessity, their screen presence is less assured and more subdued, which is why it’s remarkable that McDormand so seamlessly fits herself into their reality. It’s not the kind of big, showy performance that wins Oscars, but I’m happy to see it nominated.

And although Fern is a fictional creation in the midst of real people, she’s also a fully realized character. She is not solely defined by her poverty. When she runs into a family who knows her from a short stint as a substitute teacher, she rejects being labeled “homeless” and rebuffs their sympathy. She also asks one of the young girls if she remembers the bit of Macbeth she helped her memorize. She does.

When Fern isn’t trying to figure out her new nomadic lifestyle — working odd jobs not only at Amazon but at roadside markets, campsites, and the incomparable Wall Drug — she’s also trying to decide how much she wants to give in to the courtship by Dave, a fellow vagabond played by David Strathairn.

...

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE ON OUR WEBSITE: https://moviebabble.com/2021/04/25/adaptation-evaluation-nomadland/