Minari - Film Review

Minari - Film Review

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Posted 2021-02-10 by Jenfollow

Minari is a tender and sweeping story about what roots us. It follows a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

In cinemas 18 February 2021, it has a run time of 115 minutes. Written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the film stars Steven Yeun as Jacob, Yeri Han as Monica, Yuh-jung Youn as Soonja, Will Patton as Paul, Alan S Kim as David and Noel Cho as Ann. The title takes its name from a hardy Korean bitter herb .


Minari is drawn from writer-director Lee Isaac Chung's deeply personal story of his Korean American childhood, when his immigrant family moved to Arkansas in the 1980s, trying to adjust to life in a small town to make a go of farming. Jacob is fully invested in his American dream, his 50-acre slice of the Garden of Eden and the best dirt in America. However, his wife Monica is not as confident as she looks on with dread at the lush landscape, driving towards what feels very remote and isolated.

Her new home is on wheels and there are no steps to the front door. To alleviate her isolation and to help with the kids, Grandma is brought from Korea to stay with them, much to the dismay of young David. Everything about Grandma seems wrong to him and doesn't meet his expectations of one. She snores and 'smells of Korea'. Grandmas are supposed to bake cookies, not swear, or wear men's underwear.


Evident is the gentleness in the recalling of a childhood. It's quiet, sweeping, yet majestically large as life as you observe this family trying to get comfortable in a country they now call home, amongst people they are now a part of, and forging a living filled with hardships and no guarantees. Just as difficulties can either keep a family together or tear them apart, this family goes through their fair share of disappointment, loss, and hardship. You observe a father who has a dream and wants his children to see him succeed for once, doing it his way. You have a mother who is filled with dread of the unknown and just wants to leave the isolation, even though she made a pact with her husband that they would save each other.

The cast is marvellous and works perfectly together as a family. Steven Yeun and Yeri Han portray all the cultural constraints of holding things in, while letting it out. Their expressions and quiet tears say it all. They take you on a journey on the waves of their emotions, crashing into rocks of what seems like insurmountable impossibilities, scrambling to start a new life in a country that still feels alien.


You cannot fault any of the cast as they take part in this truthful, tender story filled with specifics of Chung's Korean American upbringing. It's the cultural specifics that'll have you laughing from time to time, interplayed by David and his Grandma. Their early shenanigans slowly blossoming into something deeper as they grow closer is a joy to watch. They will both steal your heart. Another surprise is actor Will Patton (Remember the Titans, Armageddon, The Punisher) in a totally different role that'll endear him to you, playing an evangelical Christian farmer who befriends the family and seems a little off balance.

Yuh-Jung Youn is a star in Korea making - her American feature film debut is a mostly comic role as the mischievous Grandmother. Delivering most of the film's biggest laughs, comes the time when seriousness is called for, the contrast is astounding and flawless! She well and truly nails it! Chung obviously has a knack for capturing small important moments that have a huge impact in his storytelling, inspiring laughter and tears. His vision is brought to life by cinematographer Lachlan Milne's beautiful imagery and composer Emile Mosseri's sublime score. In spite of all the struggles, these talents lend a quiet grace to the whole film that'll have you enraptured.





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84398 - 2023-06-11 06:54:00

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