Review of Minari (2021) by Iceman21 — 24 Mar 2021

This American-South Korean indie film reflects memories from director Lee Isaac Chung's childhood. After manageable living conditions in California, the South Korean family of four Yi moves to rural Arkansas, where the father wants to start a farm. This decision causes tension with his wife. The two children try to distract themselves from the arguments between their parents. However, they are bored most of the time until their hitherto unknown grandmother strides into their lives.

The great strength of Minari lies in its outstanding cast and their chemistry with each other. There is no clear protagonist, they all get their own storylines and experiences. Alan Kim, as the youngest son David, is already confronted with fundamental situations. He and his big sister Anne (Noel Kate Cho) have several moments where unconditional sibling love is communicated in a very simple way. This makes their bond enormously natural and real. The most profound relationship, however, is shared by David and his grandmother Soon-ja, played by the fantastic Yoon Yeo-jeong. Although they don't get up to operating temperature at first because David refuses to acknowledge Soon-ja's anti-granny ways (she doesn't cook or bake and uses swear words), the two grow closer as the film progresses. Every time they share the screen, hilarious and emotional dialogue is guaranteed. Exclusively the latter applies to Steven Yeun and Han Ye-ri, who play the two parents Jacob and Monica. Although their mutual love is always palpable, they are in a continuous conflict that reaches its climax at the end. Jacob wants to leave sorting chicks behind and prove himself to his family with his own farm. Monica, on the other hand, is tired of living in a trailer and doing Jacob's bidding and is eager to give her children an adequate home. Both embody a couple that seems stable on the surface but is crumbling badly underneath.

In addition to the fantastic actors, Chung Minari's direction adds the finishing touches. The script is funny, gets under the skin and gives someone the realistic picture of a family that wants to start a new and better life in the land of many opportunities. But the American dream is really only a secondary matter in Minari. Rather, Chung captures a natural and down-to-earth mood with stunning camerawork, a beautiful score and a lot of focus on the atmospheric mood. This makes the film a technical masterpiece that takes a lot of time in some scenes and therefore often seems almost still. This can sometimes seem tedious, but is completely in keeping with the overall feel of the film. While the first two acts of Minari focus on a lot of build-up and interpersonal interactions, things come to a head enormously in the last third. The film is told in a matter-of-fact way.