Generally, I try to read as little as possible about a film before I
watch a screener in order to avoid the possibility that I might be
influenced by other critics. All I knew about “Nomadland” is that it
starred Frances McDormand as a sixtyish woman, who after losing
everything in the 2008 financial crisis, becomes a “nomad”. This means
that she travels around the country in a van taking menial jobs like in
an Amazon warehouse or scrubbing toilets. With this in mind, I wondered
if I was about to see a “Grapes of Wrath” updated for our epoch.
The film begins with a Steinbeckian touch. We see Fern (McDormand)
loading her van with her belongings \ after the only employer in Empire,
Nevada—a sheetrock factory—has closed for good. Like the Joads in
“Grapes of Wrath” being foreclosed, she is forced by economic
circumstances to look for salvation elsewhere. Like the Joads with their
loaded jalopy, her road to a better life is filled with potholes. Her
first job is working in an Amazon warehouse, where we expect her to end
up either injured or too exhausted to keep up with the pace. To my
surprise, she and other elderly women lugging cartons onto conveyor
belts appear to be holding their own. After work, she retires to her
van, eats a rudimentary meal, and prepares for the next day. So, I
wondered when was the clash with the capitalist class going to begin.
full: https://louisproyect.org/2021/01/11/nomadland/
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