I was lucky enough to get to stream “Minari” as a part of a Make the Road NY and A24 event, and am grateful to them for the special opportunity. I “screened” the film at home- hooking my computer up to my roommate’s big screen TV, and watching with her and the dogs.
I read a tweet by a reviewer who I like about how the film was categorized incorrectly as an international or foreign film. I agree. Just because there are subtitles doesn’t make it an international or foreign film. It is very much an American story. There are many immigrant stories in this country- and I believe the film will especially resonate with those with an immigrant story of their own. In fact, I find the film refreshing, because it normalizes seeing these kinds of stories on the big screen, in a real, and not overly romanticized (rags to riches) or tragic (sad struggle), way. Representation matters.
The premise is that a young Korean-American family relocates from California to Arkansas. The father sees the move as an opportunity to build something of his own- a small farm. To make a living in California and in Arkansas the father and mother “sex” chicks, meaning to quickly determine which are female and which are male, for agricultural purposes. Moving to Arkansas is a change of pace for the family, in many respects. They have a young daughter and son. The focus is more on the son throughout the course of the film though. I wondered if this was intentional. In a lot of cultures, parents pay special attention to the son. I have seen this in Mexican culture, and a friend of mine of Vietnamese descent has seen it in her culture as well. Later, the grandmother comes from Korea to help take care of the children. She proves to be a hilariously unconventional grandma- cursing, gambling, and joking crassly.
The magic was in the moments. For example, of particular significance to me, was seeing the grandma bring a box of special foods from home (Korea). The mom gets emotional. This reminded me of my grandparents bringing back special food from Mexico. I just accepted this as a “norm” of their visits. Looking at it through this lens though, I see how wonderful a gesture it was. To my dad (the transplant to the U.S., from Mexico), it must have brought him back a little of what he left behind, and for us kids it was a portal into Mexico- a place that we wouldn’t get to live, but could embrace through food, culture, and family. I believe there are a lot of moments like this in the film, that will make this a special watch.
