Minari – 2020-21
Well, here is my impression of Minari. It was a very important movie when it comes to social relevance with a focus on diversity in critically recognized films. However, it was a little bit of a snoozer. It was a drama, so there was very little action, and I have no problem with that. But the pacing was glacially slow. It was about a Korean family living in the Midwest in the 80s. Dad has a dream to own a working farm, but mom doesn’t want to live the low-class life of a farming family. And that was about it.
The father, Jacob Yi, played by Steven Yeun, and his wife Monica, played by Han Ye-ri, have two lovely children. The eldest is Ann, played by Noel Kate Cho, and her younger brother is David, played by Alan Kim. Eventually, Monica’s mother, Soon-ja, played by Youn Yuh-jung is brought in to live with them. At first, the young David is wary of Grandma, but eventually the two develop a close relationship. Add to the main cast, a local eccentric named Paul, played by Will Patton, who becomes Jacob’s farmhand.
The problem was that the drama never got very deep until the last ten minutes of the movie. The rest of the film was only mildly stirring, and that translated onto the screen as a bit dull. Those last ten minutes got a little interesting, but only a little. So I have to ask myself, what could have made the movie more dramatically compelling? I can think of a few things that they could have done.
There was a subplot about David having a weak heart, so he wasn’t ever allowed to run or exert himself in any way. A real health scare could have increased the drama, but nothing ever happened. Another subplot was about Grandma having a stroke. Her death could have created more emotional heft to the narrative, but she lived. There was the issue of Jacob and Monica’s conflict, where Jacob wanted to be a farmer, and Monica hated living in the country. But all we got from that was a brief shouting match, and a quiet, calmly spoken argument near the end. Monica said that because Jacob wanted the farm more than he wanted her and the kids, she was ready to leave him. This could have been so much more dramatic, but then the film’s climax came along in the form of a fire that destroyed the harvest being stored in a barn. Then in the last few seconds of the movie, it became unclear as to whether the family would break apart or not. But again the drama was so understated as to be dull.
A minor theme in the film was the struggles of a Korean family in the United States, except that the family didn’t seem to face an ounce of adversity because of their ethnicity. Their neighbors liked them, the church welcomed them, and there was only warmth and kindness from the few Koreans in the area. The family’s internal struggles could have happened to just about anybody, though I suppose that an Italian family, a German family, or even a distinctly American family would have approached the same inter-family difficulties in a manner that wasn’t so calm and dignified. There would probably have been more shouting.
Now, I will say that the one real bright spot in the movie was actress Youn Yuh-jung. She stood out to me as a fantastic actress. She created a character that was absolutely lovable and realistic. I thought she was good from her first moment on the screen, but at the end, when she caused the fire that destroyed the harvest, the look of horror and shame the she displayed was the most heartbreaking moment in the entire film. So, kudos to Yuh-jung for bringing a little bit of well-needed intensity to the story.
I’d also like to make special mention of Will Patton’s performance. He was quirky, but believable. But again, his performance was understated. His strange behavior wasn’t over-the-top, nor did he face any real adversity from the community. He had a strange ritual of walking down the road, carrying an actual cross over his shoulder on Sundays. But the most negative reaction we saw to his behavior was a smarmy kid on the church bus flipping him off and calling him crazy to impress his friends. But once again, no big deal.
OK, so if the intensity of the drama was lackluster, what about the uplifting positive emotional content of the film. A triumph of the human spirit, a reconciliation of opposed opinions, a common understanding of vastly different cultures. Nope, there was nothing like that. But maybe that was it. Maybe it was the very normal commonness of the events in the story that made it stand out to critics. But to me, the events were so ordinary that they were boring.
Well, I guess there were a few brief touching moments of light-hearted intimacy that were supposed to tug at the heart-strings, like when David and Grandma bonded over the Minari growing by the creek. That was a mildly sweet moment that was over far too quickly. The scenery was nice, and the quiet sounds of nature were calming. But if that was the most emotional scene of a two hour movie, something is missing. They had plenty of opportunities to create more compelling drama, but they just didn’t use them.