Minari is a tender family drama that also takes a sobering look at the difficulty of achieving the American dream. The film delves into a family of Korean immigrants who eventually move to Arkansas with dreams of finding success on their own farm. It does a great job of revealing the difficulties of making something from nothing, something emblematic of both growing crops and pursuing the American Dream.
Everyone gives a great performance in this film. Most notable are the two kids, especially the young boy David (played by Alan Kim). The film doesn’t shy away from small character moments that don’t necessarily add much to the overall narrative, but takes its time allowing you to slowly fall in love with the family.
One small thing I liked about this film was that it didn’t try to shoehorn in some sort of tacky message about racism or the difficulties of being Asian during the 1980s. With films nowadays, it’s so easy to stoke the flames of Oscar-bait by adding another one of those messages about being oppressed and so forth. Being Asian myself, I think that this film does a better job of capturing the essence of the Asian culture as opposed to drumming up some sort of drama that takes away from the overall message of the film.
I think I wanted a little bit more from the overall story in order to love it as much as critics did, and the ending was a little bit abrupt. However I think this film was certainly more about the journey than the destination, and it does enough to keep you engaged in the day-to-day events of growing a farm. At this point I don’t expect anything less than greatness from A24, and they continue to deliver with Minari.
Grade: B+/81