電影《遊牧人生》影評：Nomadland

The title is very interesing, it stresses the main focus of the movie- the land, more than the nomad.

The land, the American West, vast, raw, beautiful in its bareness and wilderness, in its untouched quality by humans. The shots are amazing, especially if you have been to those places, the desert, the canyon, the redwood, the big sur... RV in the background, scenes from the window of the car, purple clouds at sunset, snow mountains in front of you. This is breathtaking.

The nomad is the kind of person Fern represents. They are perpetually on the road. They can not be tied down. They can not settle. They do not want to stay. Unless there is a reason. For Fern, who stays in the sane town, lives in the same house for a long time, the reason is her husband, Bo, who passed away. Fern is played perfectly by Frances McDormand. She is sad and grieving, yet you can not tell that right away. It is quite subtle. A few times she mentioned Bo are the times she gave it away, her emotions. She talked to the young kid who is in love with a girl but obviouly is failing at capturing her heart, on poem, the one as her wedding vow, and her voice is so tender when reciting it; she talked to Dave’s kid about their house, where there is nothing in between them and the mountain; she talked to her friend about the pain he went through in the end; and at thd end to Bob about why she stayed. She just does her own thing, lives her own life, in her own way. We see her joy, her sadness, her resolve, and her desire to be on the road and keep moving. We see her as who she is, we understand her, we admire her courage and her free spirit.

The other characters are mostly regular folks playing themselves. They have their own stories, their own reasons to be on the road, living the lives they want in a way they choose. The simple dignity was intense and powerful.

The only shortcoming is that maybe this is the simplified and beautified version of the nomad life, for one can not stop thinking about safety and security on the road. But as moviemaking goes, Chloe Zhao is extremely talented. She has good control over the tone and the emotions of the movie, so it is neither overbearing nor weightless. It does show the influence of the eastern philosophy.

To the free spirits among us, who will not stay. We will see you down the road.