Chloé Zhao / Nomadland C/D?

agreed that the opening was a bit of a red herring, I suppose the rest if the film was engaging enough for that not to matter.

thought mcdormand was very good, I liked the lack of detail about her motivation, think that was one of the film's strengths, Oscar bait movies always seem to spell everything out.

the amazon stuff was overwhelmingly positive, the chummy team talk, the friendly lunch and "the money's really good" and that's all we see? I think there is a moral compromise with a despicable corporation and they've come off better, and that just leaves a bad taste.

my wife thought a good point of comparison was Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You, she says that Nomadland and similar films (intentionally or not) function as a comfort to rich western liberals who don't want to feel guilty about the injustices perpetrated on the downtrodden in society. I agree but I also can see what Zhao was intending as per the quote above.

should remember that Zhao is from a very rich establisment family in China and went to exclusive private schools in the UK and US, she is unlikely to be a vocal campaigner for structural change.

David Strathairn's appearance was my oh-you-fake moment. We've reached a point where Strathairn has star power, and for a few minutes it upended the picture.

Sorry We Missed You is far angrier than Nomadland, though, and he doesn't mind making characters mouthpieces. I find that refreshing too.

I liked what Brady Jandreau, the non-professional actor from The Rider, had to say about her themes of loss, displacement, and self-alienation.

“I would say ‘Songs,’ ‘The Rider’ and ‘Nomadland’ all capture the feeling of being a part of something, whether it’s something solid that you can see or something that makes you feel comfortable. After my head injury, not being able to do what I did and be who I was, I didn’t even feel comfortable in my own skin,” Jandreau said. “I feel like a lot of the scenes in ‘Nomadland’ and ‘Songs’ also capture that same feeling and being able to overcome that and be comfortable again, just as best as you can be.”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-04-24/chloe-zhao-movies-nomadland-director-non-actors

Agree with everyone above citing the lack of clear motivation for Fern's actions as a strength rather than a drawback. It ties in with keeping the politics in the background, in that real human beings who get screwed over by big systems don't always see their life through that lens. We all have to rationalize how we ended up where we are and the decisions that we make every day. For that fictional character and I imagine a lot of the real nomads and non-actors, would they like to have a nice nest egg and be living a comfortable retirement? Probably, at least for many of them. But they're not, and their identities are dynamic and constantly being made by the life that they are living. Even though it doesn't exactly come across as an ecstatic or cherished experience for her, Fern seems to see this nomadic life as a part of who she is, and a choice that she is making, even if no other choice is being presented to her. I thought the final scenes where she goes back to her old house, esp in combination with her other decisions and actions throughout the movie, nicely showed the cognitive dissonance that she lives with.

Strathairn's character was definitely less believable, just in that he seemed so debonair and well-adjusted. Maybe it is just the movie star gravitas? But his whole exit from nomadism seemed a little too easy and available. I wonder if there were more scenes of his reconciliation with his family that got cut.

After my head injury, not being able to do what I did and be who I was, I didn’t even feel comfortable in my own skin,” Jandreau said. “I feel like a lot of the scenes in ‘Nomadland’ and ‘Songs’ also capture that same feeling and being able to overcome that and be comfortable again, just as best as you can be.”

For whatever reason, I feel like The Sound of Metal captured this a little better.

Reading this thread and thinking back on all the discussion this film has elicited in The Online Discourse lately reminds me of the reason I'm not interested in seeing Nomadland: I saw American Honey on election night 2016 and I'm still recovering from that viewing.

I think I had problems with the lack of motivation because Fern is contrasted with people with more explicitly identified problems or challenges, be they family history/estrangement/tragedy, or employment or health or whatever. And then we have her, who comes across as ... not an interloper, exactly, but an odd enough situation that, per Zhao, I really did want to know "Why are they in that situation?" I suppose she (as both star and Moviestar) provide us, the viewer, an entry into this world, but in that regard I think I'd rather have seen a documentary, or read the book.

xp I haven't seen American Honey because I have no desire to spend two hours with Shia LaBeouf.

Camaraderie: Fair enough.

(When I say "recover" it has nothing to do with the performances. Everybody in AH was good to great. The movie was just emotionally cratering, a glimpse into a country falling apart and those who will inherit it.)

Well, Nomadland isn't that. It's a glimpse into a country maybe/sort-of falling apart, though who can really say, but with lots of good folks and places to park (and oddly available healthcare) for people who choose to express their individuality by being homeless.

don't understand the comments about lack of motivation. The events in her history that motivated Fern became increasingly clear throughout the movie, and the way they were revealed was one of the really nice things about the film, and the main reason why I liked it

agree that the music was the least compelling part of it. felt the same way with The Rider

I have uploaded a sample of the clumsy sound mixing, quality could be better but you'll get the idea

https://vocaroo.com/1nFzDhakb3Aq

watched Songs My Brothers Taught Me on kanopy last night, it was a pretty great first film

loved THE RIDER and I fcking hated this, somehow