There is so much to love in the film Minari.
The semi-autobiographical film, starring Steven Yeun of Walking Dead fame, follows a Korean American family as they seek opportunity and new beginnings on an Arkansas farm during the 1980s.
Quiet, funny and poignant, it brought back memories of my childhood as a daughter of immigrants, albeit growing up in Northern California. It also made me reflect on my relationship with my parents, as well as the relationship they now have with my kids. In one scene in the film, 7-year-old David complains about his grandmother (played by the stellar Yuh-jung Youn), who has moved to the United States to care for him and his sister: “She smells like Korea!” My kids love their grandparents, but I sometimes wonder if they feel the same way, recognizing the wide cultural and language gulf that separates them. (Fortunately, chocolate, dessert and treats help close that gap).
I was struck by this quote by Minari director and writer Lee Isaac Chung. In an interview with NPR, he said:
“When you're second-generation Korean American, it's hard to really see your parents fully. You kind of see the sacrifices that they make. And then on top of that, you start to have more of a language barrier with them, a cultural barrier. So you end up seeing your parents not for who they are in some sense. I don't know how to explain that, but you just feel this growing gap in a way.”
Another quote also stood out to me. In an interview with the University of Utah magazine (where he earned his MFA in filmmaking), Chung said about the minari plant:
“As I researched the plant,” says Chung, “I learned that it dies away in the first year and thrives in the second, which is an incredible reflection of many immigration experiences.”
How many of us have seen this: How our immigrant parents struggled to settle and acclimate to the United States, and how they hoped and dreamed their children might thrive — and become successful doctors, lawyers, engineers… and even writers and filmmakers. Now that we’ve dug in our roots, what’s in store for the next generation?
Minari is nominated for three Golden Globes tonight (Sunday, Feb. 28), and available on demand on Amazon, iTunes, Google, etc.
Something that made me mad this week…
I can’t believe a high school teacher mocked Asians by pulling her eyelids back during class. How could an educator (or anyone) think that this gesture was OK, in this day and age, and with everything else that has been happening?! The incident took place in Sacramento, Calif., and I hope there’s a reckoning at the school.