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The landscapes of Badlands National Park become a place to get lost and find yourself in this scene from “Nomadland”.
Frances McDormand plays Fern, a woman who seeks a life on the road when her economic situation becomes dire during the recession. She gets work in South Dakota’s Badlands and explores the park in this sequence that features a number of non-professional actors, along with veteran David Strathairn.
Narrating the scene, director Chloé Zhao talks about her work to make these moments in the park seem improvised, even if they were written and carefully staged. Fern has time to wander, however, and Zhao says the ways McDormand moves and explores the scene to remind her of Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin. We see a little sparkle in their discoveries, but the joy is still bittersweet.
Read the “Nomadland” review.
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