Minari (2020)

Jack and I really liked this moving tale of a 1980s Korean immigrant family in Arkansas. There are some laughs in the second act but it's not a comedy by any means. With its many nominations and wins there's sure to be Oscar appreciation come March 15 (nomination day). Here is my running list of selected nominations and wins, sorted by title.

The ensemble cast is terrific, especially Steven Yeun as the father Jacob, Alan S. Kim (then seven years old) as David, and Yuh-jung Youn as the grandmother Soonja. They are ably backed by, among others, Yeri Han as the mom Monica, Noel Cho as big sister Anne, and Will Patton as their intense neighbor Paul.

Director/writer Lee Isaac Chung, the child of Korean immigrants, grew up on a farm in Arkansas himself, and also took inspiration from the American writer Willa Cather. Minari is the name of a perennial herb (here's more info).

I'm streaming the lovely soundtrack by Emile Mosseri as I write on Apple Music. You can also find it on Spotify. Han is the singer on Rain Song.

Director of Photography Lachlan Milne brings us lovely images, with Oklahoma subbing for Arkansas.

There has been controversy. The Golden Globes' slotted it into the Foreign Language category this year, saying it was because less than half of the movie's dialogue is in English. It won, by the way. The Farewell, also produced here in the US of A, was nominated for a Foreign Language Golden Globe last year (it did not win). Yet Inglourious Basterds was nominated for a (regular) Best Picture Golden Globe eleven years ago, and it, too, has less than half of its dialogue in English. Most of us remember that Parasite, entirely in Korean, won the Best Picture Oscar last year, but the Oscars do not have the language requirement. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which gives out the Golden Globes, has been rife with strife this year, based on their having zero Black members out of around 90, accusations of bribery, and more. Here's an exposé in the LA Times. 

Chung wrote a draft with more English but producer Christina Oh convinced him to keep the original script.

Patton was last blogged for American Honey and Mosseri for The Last Black Man in San Francisco (also produced by Oh). Yeun was in Okja, though I failed to mention him, Kim is making his screen debut, Han and Youn have dozens of film and TV credits in Korea, this is the fourth completed feature for Milne after quite a few shorts, and here is a New York Times bio of Chung.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are spicy, averaging 98 and 90%, respectively.

You can rent it now for $19.99 plus tax on iTunes, as we did last week, or Amazon Prime.