Minari

I took a little break from seeing the movies on my must-see list last week because my area received a ton of snow and I didn't feel like driving in it!  I resumed my quest once again last night by seeing Minari.  This has been one of my most anticipated movies of 2021 and I was not disappointed because I loved this incredibly moving story.  Korean immigrants Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica Yi (Han Ye-ri) leave the West Coast and move to rural Arkansas with their daughter Anne (Noel Kate Cho) and son David (Alan Kim) in the 1980s.  Jacob is thrilled to be following his dream of farming his own land but Monica is horrified to be living in a mobile home, concerned about borrowing so much money for a risky investment, and worried about living so far away from a hospital because of David's heart condition.  The two of them argue incessantly but, as a compromise to keep Monica from moving back to California, Jacob agrees to have Monica's mother, Soon-ja (Youn Yuh-jung), come from Korea to live with them and help with the children.  David struggles with his free-spirited grandmother and all of her old-fashioned ideas but he bonds with her when they plant minari seeds, which grow anywhere and have many uses.  The minari plants eventually become a metaphor as the Yi family endures hardship after hardship in this unfamiliar place while David thrives.  This is such a beautiful movie about the American dream as seen through the eyes of an immigrant family, particularly those of a seven year old boy, and Kim gives an absolutely enchanting performance. In fact, all of the performances are brilliant.  I loved the relationship between David and his grandmother and I just about cried my eyes out when she tells him not to worry about dying and then sings him to sleep.  It is a meditative, yet powerful, narrative told through the accretion of tiny details that eventually come to have enormous significance and my attention never wavered.  The cinematography is gorgeous, particularly the use of light, and the haunting piano score creates an evocative mood that had me feeling so many different emotions.  After anticipating this movie for so long I can honestly say that the hype is real!  It is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time and I highly recommend it!