While it has been a longer road than usual, and with the clock winding down on the 2020 cinematic year, I finally checked all the boxes when it comes to Best Picture nominees. Minari is a beautifully realized and heartfelt vision that details the struggle of the immigrant experience of the American dream in 1980s Arkansas.
Even though the cultural specifics help set the film apart with its own unique perspective, the themes of family and overcoming adversity are pretty universal. Faced with increasing debt, a dilapidated trailer home, family health issues, and marital tension, the Yi family has a lot more to overcome than simply fitting in. The tension continues to grow as expenses pile up and there’s no community safety net for the family to fall back on.
Writer/Director Lee Isaac Chung wrote a wealth of personality into this story and these characters. That’s likely because he grew up on a farm in rural Arkansas and pulled from his own experience to write this story. It’s why the family dynamic feels so authentic in its up and downs and why the humor works as well as it does. The film draws its greatest strength from balancing the hardship with the little moments of joy, freedom, and opportunity afforded to the characters by the land. In that way, Chung captures the ideals of the American dream with both ambition and apprehension.
The whole cast is great, and the kids are just super cute (Noel Cho and Alan S. Kim), Chung’s richest characters are brought to life in spectacular fashion by Steven Yeun, Yuh-Jung Youn, and Yeri Han. It’s Yeun and Youn who earned Oscar nominations for their portrayals and rightfully so. Yeun’s character, Jacob, is the one who’s pushing the American dream on his family and has an ideological break with his wife, Monica, played delicately by Han. When Grandma (Youn) arrives, the cultural disparities are heightened but the importance of family becomes more present. Her energy is infectious and her screen presence is dominating. Their two roles bookend a wide range of emotions and ideologies and they both have a good shot at taking home an Academy Award.
Considering what these people go through in the short time we know them, the film moves almost instantly from its dramatic and fiery climax to the end credits with a lack of resolution that leaves a lot unanswered and a lot to be desired. It’s not at all the “feel-good” movie I was expecting and most likely not Best Picture, but it’s still pretty darn good.
Recommendation: See it for the incredible performances and the honest depiction of an immigrant family’s hardships that come with pursuing the American dream.