Lee Isaac Chung’s autobiographical Minari has already made a lasting impression after taking last year’s festival circuit by storm. That trend is only set to continue as it opens this year’s digital edition of the Glasgow Film Festival, immediately setting an impossible bar that the rest of the fest may not surpass.
After working tirelessly in California to save up what they could, Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Yeri Han) move to rural Arkansas with their two Korean-American children Anne (Noel Cho) and David (Alan S Kim). But life on the farm isn’t the quaint picture of the American Dream that Jacob hoped it would be. As their situation starts to worsen, it puts pressure on the Yi family and this isn’t ailed by the arrival of Monica’s mother – and troublemaker – Soonja (Yuh-Jung Youn).
Minari is, of course, informed by Chung’s own experiences as a child and it clearly shows in his unostentatious approach here. That’s to say, this is a film lacking narrative heft and, instead, focusing more on the intimate familial beats and every day of first-generation immigrants. Chung has the benefit of hindsight and his script observes that process with a great deal of maturity and appreciation; despite the hardships the Yi’s faces at times, Minari feels like a love letter to childhood and family in all of its complex beauty. He carves a tender and real dynamic between the characters here; every relationship feels lived-in and there’s so much history behind the family’s journey which makes it all the more compelling and investing a watch. We’ve all struggled to fit in and we’ve all had to grapple with the cost of our dreams and the strain it can put on our relationships and our families. Minari is a story that doesn’t just tap into the immigrant experience, but the experience of being human.
Much controversy surrounded the Globes’ decision to deem Minari “a foreign language film” despite being from an American-born filmmaker and shot entirely in Arkansas. A lot of the dialogue is in Korean and it certainly has themes of cultural assimilation woven throughout but, make no mistake, Minari is one of the most accessible films of the year. The pursuit of the American Dream and the search for one’s self are not “foreign” notions and part of the film’s beauty is in how it depicts a very relatable family portrait. Bong Joon-Ho said it best at the Oscars last February: “I think we use only one language: the cinema”. And Minari is some of the finest cinema you’ll see this year. An authentic slice of life anchored by a masterful cast and gorgeous cinematography from Lachlan Milne, Minari is probably the best film that will release in 2021. It has certainly set a high standard for the films to follow.
Minari
Summary
Probably the best film that will release in 2021. It has certainly set a high standard for the films to follow.
