In a world of movie nerds, OSCAR
is the most popular pit stop. Despite all the criticism which it has been
facing for diversity most movies are at the top of the heap & well made movies.
2021 was one of the rare years & I sincerely hope it is the last when I
found most of them on OTT. I could see them from my home rather than waiting in
que to see them in a movie fest. While I saw Father last week when my friend
Jai shared it & wrote about it.
I got to see Nomadland, Minari
& The White metal this week. If I include Father all four of them deal with
people / situations which one would notice or read about, so it was a peak in
to a very different world.
Nomadland:
In 2000 in one of our trips to Sariska, a small forest / sanctuary
near Delhi – we saw this gigantic van parked and the owners were happy to show
us the interiors which had everything which a luxirous home has – except that
it had wheels. Driving back, we imagined like a newly married couple do – won’t
it be great if we could do this as well.
Cut to 2021 – Hitting 50 & with 2 grown up adults, our
dream is still to embark on a similar trip but on flights & trains.
Inshallah!
Nomadland explores this nomadic
nature of all of us. This urge to experience the freedom and new things and at
my age this urge becomes more stronger because we are almost at the end of
family responsibilities. At this age we seek people who also have gone through
their life – most lived life is imperfect and there is a kinship a symbiosis
which does not need much words. Just being together and in nature is fine.
But for Fern it was not fun, but
a need borne out of the fact that the city Empire, Nevada had shut down due to
recession forcing all its residents out. On her own since her husband passed
away & with hardly any social security balance or savings – she lived on
the van did odd jobs as she moved from state to state. Working with Amazon fulfilment
centres or helping big farmers in their harvesting season – she barely managed
to survive. And like her she meets many Swankie who is suffering from Cancer
and in her last stages, Bob whose son died 3 years back and now he organizes
these large gathering of van dwellers or Linda May who want to build an sustainable
earth ship dwelling.
In a way the movie also depicts
the fractures in the American society (maybe most capitalist societies
including India) which worships money and choice and meritocracy. For what? People
give their life and freedom to build something and under the burden of
mortgages and other commitments – live a borrowed life. Swankie, Linda or Bob –
all of them were grieving and the van was their way to make their vision come
true.
Lovely cinematography & hard
hitting acting by Frances McDormand, which is her forte, makes you think much
after the credits roll by.
Below are 2 interviews which explains
the deep involvement of both the lead actor & director. They both won the
Oscar.
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/09/nomadland-interview-chloe-zhao-1234584703/
