Best Pictures #67: 2020 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Minari

 by A. J. 

Best Pictures #67: 2020 (93rd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
Minari

“Minari can be put in kimchi, put in stew, put in soup. It can be medicine if you are sick. Minari is wonderful, wonderful!”

Minari feels both familiar and unique at the same time. It is certainly a special movie which I very much recommend. It has earned 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and I think it is deserving of the recognition and praise it has so far received. Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung based this story of a Korean family settling in rural Arkansas in the 1980’s to start a farm on his own similar childhood experiences. In dramatizing his own story, Chung has made a film that is personal and relatable even if you are not Korean, or a farmer, or an immigrant. If you’ve tried chasing any part of the American dream, you’ll recognize something in Minari.

Stephen Yuen and Yeri Han play Jacob and Monica, a Korean couple who have just moved from California to Arkansas with their two young children, Anne and David, to pursue Jacob’s dream of having a big farm—like the Garden of Eden—that will thrive and allow the family to do the same. Monica is skeptical to say the least, especially when she sees the trailer on the plain plot of land that is to be their new home. Adding to her anxiety is David’s heart murmur and how far away they are from a city and a hospital. The arrival of Monica’s mother, Soonja, complicates some things (like the sleeping arrangement in the small trailer) and livens up others.

Minari’s focus is on the relationship that shy 6-year-old David has with his outspoken grandmother, Soonja. This isn’t a cutesy movie about a little boy and his sassy grandma, though they certainly have that dynamic. David doesn’t like that she doesn’t act like a “real” grandma: she doesn’t bake cookies, she swears, watches wrestling, and drinks Mountain Dew. Yuh-jung Youn as Soonja steals every scene and is far and away the standout performer of the film. She has earned a well-deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and would be my choice to win if I were allowed to pick the winners. She isn’t just funny—which she is—or the character most out of place in this new home—which she is—but the emotions she stirs and her relationship with David are the heart of the movie. Alan Kim as David is just what you hope for in a child actor. He does not draw attention to himself and his behavior always comes across as natural, not contrived, even when he is playing a gross prank of his grandma. They share a wonderful, quiet scene together at a creek near the farm where she plants minari, a leafy vegetable; it is my favorite scene in the movie.

Steven Yeun, nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, and Yeri Han work very well together as a believable married couple. He is determined but not bullheaded and she is not unsupportive or a nag but is justifiably feeling isolated and concerned. It is clear that they care for each other and even though they are at a place where their future together is uncertain, we do not feel that they have a bad marriage. Will Patton, a familiar face even if you don’t recognize his name, has a small role with a notable performance as the kindhearted but very eccentric local who gladly helps Jacob on the farm. He speaks in tongues randomly and, in a scene late in the movie, performs an exorcism that is simultaneously comical and emotional.

The beautiful Oscar nominated score by Emile Mosseri would be my pick to win that category, again, if I were allowed to pick the winners. It is ethereal and enchanting and brimming with pathos. Chung has a tenderness in his direction and his screenplay—both are Oscar nominated—towards each of the characters and their points of view. My only real complaint is the plot contrivance that leads to the climax, but it is not a major strike against the movie because it drives the drama of the story forward and the final moments won me back easily. From start to finish Minari is filled with the kind of small, intimate and affecting moments that are so rarely done well on screen. Wonderful, wonderful Minari indeed.

Nominee: Christina Oh, producer

Director: Lee Isaac Chung

Screenplay: Lee Isaac Chung

Cast: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Yuh-jung Youn, Alan Kim

Production Companies: Plan B

Distributor: A24
Release Date: February 12th, 2021

Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Actor-Steven Yeun; Supporting Actress_ Yuh-jung Youn; Director-Lees Isaac Chung; Original Screenplay-Lee Isaac Chung; Original Score-Emile Mosseri