Minari: Exposing the American Dream Facade
Minari, named after a resilient Korean herb that grows wherever it is planted, is a semiautobiographical story that follows a family assimilating into a country. The film is a gentle, raw story that feels like a vivid memory straight from Lee Issac Chung as he looks back at his rural Arkansas childhood. It is a beautifully told family drama about chasing the American dream with all the costs and beauty that goes along with it. Beautifully acted and written, Minari is one of the best things to come out of 2020.
With rises in Asian-American stories told in films like The Farewell, Crazy Rich Asians, and Searching, this film feels deeply more personal and is a perfect entry into this trend that I hope continues throughout the industry. Minari follows the Yi family as they pull up to their new home, a modest trailer, on a large plot of land with no one in sight. Jacob is excited to move his family from California as he is looking to follow his dreams of starting a farm where he can grow Korean fruits and vegetables and provide for his family. This move represents a new beginning towards a life he has always dreamed of.
His wife, Monica, does not feel the same as she feels isolated in their new environment. Monica and Jacob have two kids, Anne and David. Even though they fight Jacob persuades her that this is where they need to be and they reach a compromise of bringing Monica's mother from Korea to help take care of the kids. Soonja is the opposite of the grandmothers we usually see on screen as she is sassy and loves a good prank. David is put off by her because she's not the typical American grandma even making a point to say she smells like Korea. The relationships that develop between David and Soonja is at the heart of the film as we see them playing card games and hike together to plant minari. The presence alleviates pressure off of Jacob and Monica's marriage giving him time to get the farm together, but Monica still questions her husband's priorities when the farm becomes a financial burden and the constant worry of David's health.
The plot sounds like it could turn into a tragedy but it never goes there, Minari is filled with warmth and life. Chung uses his own experience to ground the movie in something real and relatable versus stereotypes we have seen in past films about immigrants and minorities. He shows the microaggressions the family experiences from their neighbors but it is not out of malicious intent but ignorance. The Yi's story explores identity in the presence of struggle and change. Jacob and Monica came to the states for a better life and that is what Jacob is set out to do. He feels pressure on him from his family to be successful, but that is the thing that hurts the family the most. Monica is trying to find a place in the dream Jacob has set out and the family also begins to assimilate as the movie progresses with Soonja becoming an "Americanized" grandma. The move is told through the perspective of David which can explain why there is such warmth in this drama as he tries to reach the unattainable goal of being normal.
Minari balances sweetness and comedic edge that makes it feel like a breath of fresh air during a season that is often overstuffed with Oscar baity war dramas and biopics. David will make you swoon every time he is on screen and with the film being mostly in Korean it adds to the groundedness to see this family as they should be versus what someone would think American audiences would want. The cinematography and music bring the movie together to make it feel like you are watching a vivid memory of someone.
The final scene is the climax of the entire film that has been building up and will leave you emotional. It is a metaphor for how hard the struggle for the American dream is only for it to be taken away in a second. As the screen faded to black I wanted to continue to follow the Yi family and watch them grow. Minari is a masterpiece.