Minari

A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

Shown: 3 November 2021

Exminster Film Club Rating: 70%

BBFC 12 Rating Badge

Minari Plot Synopsis

Yearning to own a small patch of land and be more than a chicken sexer, the ambitious paterfamilias, Jacob Yi, relocates his Korean-American family: sceptical wife, Monica, and their children, David and Anne, from California to 1980s rural Arkansas, to start afresh and capture the elusive American Dream. However, new beginnings are always challenging, and to find out what is best for the family, let alone start a 50-acre farm to grow and sell Korean fruits and vegetables, is easier said than done. But, amid sincere promises, cultural unease, fleeting hopes, and the ever-present threat of financial disaster, Jacob is convinced that he has found their own slice of Eden in the rich, dark soil of Arkansas. Can grandma Soonja’s humble but resilient minari help the Yi family figure out their place in the world?

Film Reviews

Sensitively written and acted, beautifully shot, and with a charming, sparingly used score, Minari is so engaging that it’s easy to forget how radical it is.

Nicholas Barber, BBC

It’s impossible not to appreciate the deep understanding of human behavior, as well as the way that ordinary objects and situations acquire symbolic meaning when we think about them in relation to the characters. This is a lovely, unique film.

Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

Official Film Trailer for Minari

Review from an EFC Member

Produced by, and starring, Walking Dead actor Steven Yeun, Minari centres around the lives of a young Korean-American family trying to establish their own successful farming business in rural Kansas.

Through a combination of amazing performances by the cast, particularly Yeun as the hardworking and stubborn father and veteran South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung as his foul-mouthed mother-in-law, and incredible music from composer Emile Mosseri, Minari illustrates the struggles of those attempting to pursue the ‘American Dream’ in an evocative, sometimes funny yet overall poignant experience which I’m sure many people will find as entertaining and thought provoking as I did.

Thomas


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