Minari ★★★★
IT’S the annual lead-up to film awards season when here in Perth audiences finally get to see all the films that should have made Top 20s for last year.
We’ve had commercial runs for Corpus Christie, Another Round and The Nest with Nomadland, The Father and Judas and the Black Messiah on their way.
Minari is another current release that is highly regarded by critics and should resonate with local audiences.
Writer/director Lee Isaac Chung based the story on aspects of his own family’s struggle after emigrating to the United States.
Steven Yuen and Han Ye-ri play Jacob and Monica Yi, a married couple with two young children, Anne and David.
On arriving in the US during the Reagan-era 1980s, they first settled in California, where they spent a few years and managed to save a little money due mainly to Jacob’s growing proficiency in the demanding art of chicken-sexing.
This ability helps him land a job at a hatchery in rural Arkansas which will also enable him to embark on a long-term plan to create a successful Korean vegetable farm.
Monica is wary of the move and devastated when she sees the basic nature of the trailer home sitting on wheels seemingly dumped in an overgrown field.
Jacob constantly tries to remain positive and concentrates on creating his vision with assistance from a local man, Paul (Will Patton), who has plenty of knowledge but displays devout Christian values that appear eccentric at the least, e.g. every Sunday he walks to church burdened with a cross.
With Jacob working every day, Monica continues to struggle and the strain builds on their marriage, even after her elderly mother Soon-ja arrives from Korea to help care for the children.
While Jacob and Monica struggle to deal with the trials and setbacks of life on the land, the children have their own struggles learning to live with the eccentric ways of their hard-swearing, card-playing and wrestling-loving grandmother.
This is a beautiful little film, full of every-day circumstances and authentic relationships that enable the viewer to place themselves in the character’s shoes. The cinematography is deceptively good. For example, I loved the use of sunlight coming through the windows that allows you to almost feel the warmth of a new day.
While all aspects of the story are engaging, the relationship between the grandmother and David is the one that most pulls at the heart-strings while also providing pure moments of levity.
Veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung shines as Soon-ja in a supporting role that remains pivotal throughout.
Since ending his seven year run in television’s zombie epic The Walking Dead, Yuen has displayed great choices and range in his film career, including Burning, Sorry To Bother You, Okja and Mayhem. Minari is another terrific choice.