Minari
Minari (2020)
Big year for Writer/directors (seven of eight!). With Minari Lee Isaac Chung delivers a simple story of a 1980s Korean family chancing their luck on the American dream.
Jacob (Best Actor nominee) relocates his brood from California to Arkansas, escaping menial work manhandling chicks to become a Korean vegetable farmer, recognising the untapped potential of the future market. His wife Monica is fretful from the off, mainly concerned about the hour-long drive to the nearest hospital and them having a son with a heart problem. And, boy, she never lets him forget it! But Jacob is a man of vision and too focused on not returning to a life of “chicken sexing”.
As domestic dramas go it’s pretty traditional. Lots of hushed conversations and beautiful sunsets. It’s mellow and bright and despite the frayed relations there’s an optimistic vibe. The film succeeds when the story focuses on the relationship between young David and his new-on-the-scene grandmother (Oscar nominated Yuh-Jung Youn). She’s no-nonsense and encourages her grandson to live a bolder life. She’s the first person to tell the timid boy how strong and capable he is. Exactly what grandma’s are for. She also dispenses some invaluable advice about snakes that I’ll certainly carry with me.
A couple of gripes; it’s unfortunate that the sister constantly repeats her brother’s name in the same whiny way as Alexa in the very current and internationally popular sitcom Schitt’s Creek. It completely removes you from the 80s pastiche. Secondly, the ending. No spoilers of course, but I came away annoyed. I was so invested in the conflict between Jacob and Monica that what happens at the hands of Grandma is just unnecessarily distracting. You know in Friends when we learn that Phoebe’s mother would switch off the film before things turned sour? Well, I could’ve done with her here.
With themes of faith versus brains Minari is a charming and stripped back tale of a man building a farm from nothing to provide for his family with some fun oddball supporting characters in Grandam and religious farmer Paul.
7 Dowsing Thumbs Up 👍🏻
