Minari and the American dream...

Lee Isaac Chung’s film Minari is about the American dream, just not the one you think it’s going to be.

Minari translates to edible plant in Korean and is described in the film as a vegetable that is “good in everything”. Minari the film is good at everything.

Set in the 1980’s in Arkansas, the film follows the story of Jacob and Monica, two Korean immigrants, who move their two American born children to the heart of the Ozarks to start a farm and live the “American dream”. Except the dream it shows us is that dreams aren’t reality and very rarely end up the way you thought they would.

Jacob is played with such endearing passion by Steven Yeun. Working along with Yeri Han as Monica, they show us that all marriages just as all dreams, required tending. Jacob and Monica are struggling to connect through most of the film. Monica is seen balancing much of the heavy labor of motherhood, wifely duties, and desperately trying to find success at work, where she and Jacob gender chicks by day. Jacob spends all waking hours and most of their savings, on his farm and the “dream” leaving Monica alone, frustrated, and longing for so much more. Their strife is painful and intimate. The arguments are powerfully real. This slice of life in a marriage is everything that 2019’s Marriage Story didn’t get. Marriage, family, child rearing, and dreams are hard. All of these can pull two people apart.

The story is told through the eyes of David the youngest child. Alan Kim as David is quite possibly the cutest thing in Hollywood right now. But it’s through Alan’s scenes that we see yet another dream deferred. What is a real Grandmother? Enter Yuh-Jung Youn, and she’s a marvel. Flown in from Korea to “help”Monica’s mother is NOT your typical grandma. She drinks, swears, teaches the kids to gamble, and doesn’t even cook. But she shows up. She is there when they need her and her presence changes all of their dreams. When the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress is opened it should read, Yuh-Jung Youn. If it doesn’t, one of my dreams will be shattered.

Minari isn’t about the dream of striking it rich or settling your homestead. Minari is about teaching us that those external dreams mean nothing if we are not surrounded by people who inspire us to be brave enough to try. To try and fail, again and again. Minari is about hard times and scary times and the times where nothing else matters but the people right there in your family. They are your vegetable that goes in everything, they make you healthy and strong, and they make life taste all the more delicious.

And there’s the opinion you didn’t ask for...xo Kristi