Review of Nomadland (2021) by Sandycameron — 01 Jun 2021

This was the first film I had seen in the cinema since January 2020 (which was Sam Mendes' "1917"), and I'm in no doubt that my view of Nomadland was coloured to some extent by having to sanitise my hands, have my temperature taken and sit wearing a mask for two hours. It's one thing to have become accustomed to these new rituals of daily life to go to the supermarket. It's quite another to have them encroach on the anticipation, expectation and enjoyment of sitting in the dark and getting lost in massive images on the silver screen.

Having said that, the film was absorbing enough, but rather too plain. The cinematography gave us a flat, featureless canvas (not a great advert for the beauty of the US landscape - though maybe that was the point) but put Fern's (Frances McDormand)expressive face front and centre, a constant pensive presence, casting doubt not only on her own situation but on the lifestyle 'choice' of her fellow nomads. There was insufficient attention to detail for it to be a riveting documentary; insufficient drama for it to be a rounded fiction. I wanted Fern to engage, react, resist, embrace the mini-dramas she encountered (not least the offer to stay with Dave and Bob's revelation of his backstory) but polite murmurings and an absence of emotional response was all we got - sometimes, not even that, just her moving on.

Of course, not all movies must be 'uplifting' (a word which often appears in reviews trying to convince you that a film is not as depressing as you might think) and this one certainly isn't, but it's difficult to accept the degree of universal acclaim heaped on such a tough and pessimistic story. I prefer my cinema greats to give me a sliver of hope about life and, to be fair, an affirmation not an undermining of my own circumstances and values. Selfish? Perhaps, but I don't go to the pictures to commit acts of selflessness.