By Sandra Hall
MINARI ★★★★
(PG) 115 minutes. In cinemas from February 18
The knowledge that he may well be the fastest chicken sexer in the West is scant consolation to Jacob, a Korean immigrant living in California with his young family. Pushed to his limits by boredom, he decides to leave the poor chicks and the factory farm where he works and head for the Ozarks hill country in Arkansas.
Steven Yeun, Alan S. Kim, Yuh-Jung Youn, Yeri Han and Noel Cho in Minari.Credit: AP
He’s bought a plot of land there and he plans to grow Korean vegetables, which he’ll sell at market. But his wife, Monica (Yeri Han), is not nearly as happy about the move – especially when she sees the kit home where they’ll be living. Set on wheels in the centre of a grassy field, it confirms her impression she’s landed in the middle of nowhere and prospects are bleak.
Named for a remarkably hardy Korean herb, Minari is a lightly fictionalised autobiographical film by Korean-American writer and director Lee Isaac Chung. It’s his childhood seen through the eyes of Jacob and Monica’s seven-year-old son, David (Alan S. Kim), an opinionated, curious child who’s doing fine in his strangely fascinating new home until he learns he’ll be sharing his bedroom with his grandmother, Soonja (Yuh Jung Youn).
She’s just arrived from Korea and, fortunately, she’s been blessed with a great sense of humour that rapidly becomes indispensable. She also has a salty way with the language and a ruthless attitude to board games. While she knows little English she does like the word “Bastard!”, which she bawls out whenever she wins a point.
It’s an anecdotal film with a rhythm dictated by the highs and lows of the farming life, which means the remorseless vagaries of nature take care of the plot’s shape and ensure the suspense points. A small mistake can quickly mushroom into a major setback and disaster is always waiting in the wings ready to consume everything and everybody.
But the film’s stars are the family. Monica remains on the brink of returning to California and taking David and his sister with her. But Jacob (Steven Yeun) is determined to make a go of the farm because he can’t deal with the horror of having to face the rear end of yet another chicken. At the same time, the fractious relationship between David and Soonja (Yuh Jung Youn) begins to lose its edge as they realise their shared stubbornness and strength of will make them natural allies.
Chung views them all with a clear, fond eye free of any hint of sentimentality. He knows their imperfections too well for that. He’s also wise enough to be aware that their imperfections are what make them so endearing.