Director: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn
9/10
Well made semi-documentary of a woman from a small Nevada town that’s disappearing after a mine closing. The USPS has dropped its Zip Code. She lives in her van and travels to places where she does short term work. One such place is an Amazon warehouse that takes on employees during the Holidays. Another is the renowned Wall Drug in S Dakota which I hitchhiked past in the mid-70s. Mostly a slice-of-life film but there is the relationship between McDormand and Strathairn.
There are many like her and the film shows a mobile community. People share hardships, items, skills, and information – the most interesting part of the film in my view. Most of the people are actual nomadic workers. (Hence my designation as semi-documentary.) None are alcoholics or drug addicts. They are intelligent, decent people who live outside the mainstream and prefer it to the strictures of regular employment and attendant lifestyles. The film doesn’t emphasize their plight as much as it does their grit.
The story is told mainly with camera work and settings. Most of the latter are rugged, dry, open areas of Nevada, Arizona, and South Dakota which the director evidently and understandably fell in love with. McDormand is remarkable as the hard-scrabbled, idiosyncratic main character known only as Fern. More of a slice of life film rather than one with a linear plot line, though at the end some might wonder if Fern has had enough.
© 2021 Brian M Downing
Brian M Downing is a national security analyst who’s written for outlets across the political spectrum. He studied at Georgetown University and the University of Chicago, and did post-graduate work at Harvard’s Center for International Affairs. Thanks as ever to Susan Ganosellis.