See you at the end of the road!

Nomadland (2020)
Director, Screenplay, Co-producer: Chloè Zhao

Maybe we never forgot our roots. Even though we decided to become farmers, stay put in one place and hope to gain strength through numbers (i.e. living in communities), we simply could not shake off our desires to wander and be close to Nature. As cavemen and hunter-gatherers, we were doing the same thing. We were awed by the things around us. We wanted to experience them and to know all about the fantastic things that we saw and felt. Who built them? When were these made?  Like an excited child, we yearned for answers. And we are still doing them today. 

At one time, we were told it is what it is. Do not ask too many questions of which answers you will not understand. It is beyond your comprehension, they would say. Nah, read these scriptures; everything is there. With science, it appears that this mindset is changing. People started asking questions and more question. Apparently, there were more questions than answers the more people asked. Curiosity piqued. Obviously, the books did not have all the answer. It seems that people need to feel to experience. They needed to spread their wings. The desire to travel is rekindled.

Much like a physical journey, our life journey gives us pockets of experiences. Every visual gratification, every smell, every touch, every feeling is an experience of its own. In life, we would encounter many sweet-bitter events. All these pockets of experiences form a composite picture of what we can say 'our life'.

'Nomadland' can be viewed as a cerebral movie that tries to look at two things that seem essential to the American public - homelessness and the zest to find the meaning of life. In a way, this film combines both topics. 

Chloè Zhao

Many townships that had experienced boomtown for decades are now in real danger of being wiped off the USA map. The industries and factories which formed the rock bed of their existence have suddenly lost their competitiveness. Many of the work had been outsourced to third world countries. Town dwellers had to find employment elsewhere. One such town in this story is Empire in Nevada. Fern, the protagonist, is one of the last people to leave this town after its Gypsum plant shuts down, and her husband dies. She sells her belongings to invest in a van to travel, see the world, and seek employment. 

In the course of her journey, she meets many fellow travellers who consider themselves 'nomads', making trying to escape the restrictive lives that they were leading or to cut loose of the melancholy that suffocate them. 

Perhaps by being out in the open amongst the gargantuan structures and mighty forces of nature, all our troubles seem insignificant. To the vast expanse of the Universe, we, as individuals, are irrelevant in the greater scheme of things. We are nothing, so are what we perceive as our unsolvable miseries.

Chloè Zhao has the enviable reputation of being the first woman of colour and the second woman to win the coveted 'Best Director' award at the Oscars. But, unfortunately, her native country, China, had censored all of her, the 2021 Oscar, as well as her acceptance. This is in response to her caustic remark about China in a 2013 interview. She had described China as a 'place where there are lies everywhere'.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.