Minari: A Beautifully Tender Feel-Good Film About Resilience, Family, And The American Dream
Writer/director Lee Isaac Chung creates a real winner with his fourth narrative feature, Minari, a rapturous feel-good film about resilience, family, and the American Dream. Streaked with hardship and grit, this lushly lensed and deeply moving drama takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster ride that’s rich in meaning and bursting with infectious tenderness and warmth.
A Korean-American family moves from California to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother.
With Minari, Lee Isaac Chung creates a lush garden of raw cinematic pleasures that provides vital nourishment to the soul. Taking its name from a prominent vegetable in Korean cooking, minari is a plant that thrives in harsh conditions and has many uses ranging from the culinary to the medicinal. The titular plant serves as a poignant metaphor for the family rooted firmly at its center, symbolizing their tenacity, resilience, culture, versatility, and spirit. The film follows the Yi family, a young immigrant family from Korea, as they relocate from California to Arkansas in hopes of starting a farm. As the Yi family chase their version of the American Dream, they’re confronted with just about every obstacle you can imagine, which tests the strength of their roots, both in this new land and each other.
Inspired by American novelist Willa Cather, who once said "that her life really began when she stopped admiring and started remembering,” Chung decided to draw upon his own experiences to shape the film’s narrative, using personal memories of his family, who moved from Atlanta to a small farm in rural Lincoln, Arkansas when he was younger, as the basis fro the story. These autobiographical elements give the film a palpable personal touch and a wistful feeling of nostalgia. We can see a lot of Chung in the Yi’s eight-year-old son, David (played brilliantly by Alan Kim), as he takes in the foreign landscape and its new experiences. Although the film isn’t restricted to David’s perspective, we see a large majority of it through his eyes as he takes in his new surroundings and interacts with his grandmother, Soon-ja (Youn Yuh-jung), who reintroduces the family to their cultural roots.
Much like Lulu Wang’s 2019 film, The Farewell, Minari grapples with Eastern and Western philosophies and finds universal appeal in its cultural tale through its relatable themes. It’s very much an immigrant story, but’s it’s also undeniably American, too. Much in the same way Chloé Zhao’s equally stunning Nomadland does, Minari explores the idea of home in America. Both films have a similar sentiment that home is where you make it, but Minari is less about the idea of home and more about who or what you make it out of. Chung and cinematographer Lachlan Milne do a phenomenal job of capturing the locations and the smaller moments. It’s poetic when it needs to be, but it’s not overly flowery. It’s warm and fuzzy like memory, but it never shies away from the hardships. Because Chung takes the time to set up these characters, we feel very connected to them, which makes their triumphs and failings reverberate with even more resonance.
The performances are uniformly superb. Steven Yeun continues to prove his excellence, and he delivers a really emotionally honest and raw performance here. Alan Kim, who plays young David, delivers one of the film’s most surprising performances. He’s mischievous, yet charming and natural. He’s the kind of adorable hellion that can pee in his grandma’s tea and get away with it. Kim’s performance is really the heart of the film, and his performance is apt to steal yours right from your chest. The other noteworthy performance is Will Patton’s Paul. Very rarely is Patton offered a role this eccentric and odd, and he really embraces it well. He’s a large part of the film’s spiritual/faith-based theme, and he gives the film a splash of oddity that keeps it from being too conventional. The real star of the film though may just be Emile Mosseri’s gorgeous score. Mosseri’s immensely moving arrangement perfectly marry with the films themes and create the right emotional feeling for every scene and moment they play over.
Minari may come in an understated and petite package, but this modest little film about the small moments crackles with profundity and feels so monumental. It’s utterly touching, 100% genuine, and downright life affirming. Ultimately, the film tells us that all the hardships and challenges of having a family, building a home, and chasing our dreams are a worthy cross to bear. It’s a beautiful reminder about the resilience of the human spirit and the strength of family when they’re fully together.
Recommendation: If you love honest and touching family dramas, look no further than Minari! Although it grapples with some adult themes, this film is the perfect one to watch as a family.
Rating: 5 minari plants outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!