Frances McDormand illuminates Chloé Zhao’s humane and lyrical film about people living on the road in the American West, based on Jessica Bruder's eponymous book.
Reeling from the death of her beloved husband and the loss of their Nevada home, Fern (McDormand) lives in a van, travelling from town to town and picking up seasonal work.
There is much of Chloé Zhao’s process present in the adaptation. The film is populated with intimate and compassionate studies of real people playing versions of themselves, such as Fern’s compatriots on the road, Linda, Swankie and Bob, as well as a precious community that has grown out of the ruins of the country’s brutal service economy. Zhao’s regular collaborator, cinematographer Joshua James Richards, exquisitely captures the expansive open landscapes of the Western United States.
Alongside them, McDormand delivers an angular, sympathetic portrait of an older woman choosing a life of relative freedom, whatever the pains and challenges that entails.
US 2020 Dir Chloé Zhao 108 min
Please note: The following screening is captioned and includes a recorded intro from Mia Bays, director-at-large at Birds’ Eye View, and a recorded Q&A with Chloé Zhao, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears (producer) and Joshua James Richards (director of photography).
- Thu 24 Jun, 2.30pm
From 17 May (and unless guidance changes) six people or two households of any size can visit together as a group. Until guidance changes, we’ve created socially-distanced seating clusters. Please only sit directly beside someone from your household or support bubble, and avoid moving seats when you arrive, so we can keep a safe distance between you and other groups.
Barbican Cinema has been supported by the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England which is administered by the BFI, as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund supporting arts and cultural organisations in England affected by the impact of Covid-19. #HereForCulture.
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