Film Review Minari of Issac Chung 2020

Last night my wife and I finally watched Minari from Apple TV, Issac Chung wrote and directed. About a year ago my daughter sent a text, “must watch Minari” to all Sohn family with a link, the Sundance Film Festival 2020 info. Since then, my curiosity has grown with updates: People.com about SAG Awards, an inspirational writing guidance in LA Times, Issac’s happy talk holding his daughter in the arm at NBC live clip, and a film review at New York Times.

We love it because it is genuinely a soul searching and heartwarming story of a Korean American family in this country! Minari’s unfolding scenes from the beginning awakened our Korean sentiments quietly and powerfully.  Jacob family (his wife Monica and their two kids)’s arrival to open land in Arkansas, mixed of emotions in awes & shocks by eye opening experiences, unseen challenges in strange environment, struggles through harsh financial stress. Bitterness is getting aggregated over repetitious confrontations in spousal interaction, yearning for friendship yet hard to make a friend, slow process of assimilation among same family, own ethnic community and with main culture. Despite a blowback by colossal accident-loss, hope remains as never crushable as Jacob’s dream—building a garden of Eden for his family is realized just as resiliently adoptable minari. I like multiple contrasting effects: wide open space vs. confiding rooms, blue sky vs. green meadow, Korean vs. American, children vs. old folks, and peaceful air vs. strained emotions, having biblical name vs. non-believer’s lifestyle so on. I love the music scores and especially Rain Song, by Emile Mosseri and Yeri Han that never bores me no matter how many times I listen.

Somehow many parts of Minari story resembled our 35 years’ journey in US, especially the very first half length. We first arrived at New Orleans for my graduate study in architecture at Tulane University. I remember very distinctively strange smell from steamy air at the airport. It certainly shocked my wife more, but we were captured by this new world. I was 30, she was 28, our daughter 3 and just one year old son. Our life started with a concrete goal (I came here to study architecture), full of excitement about new opportunity, hope for our children’s better future and to be a great architect someday. But then, in a month of arrival a sudden car accident turned our path upside down. It made us to rebuild our life back from unfathomable tragedy piece by piece after our children reunited with us.  While I was finishing the program, my wife worked hard as a cleaner and waitress to make our ends meet, sent money to her parents in Korea who took care of our kids for about a year.

As Jacob’s reminder to Monica recalling their promise to each other “to be a savior for each other,” we also wanted to keep our promise—be the light for each other just as shining stars in the night sky. We dated for 13 years since we met in high school. We were used to sing together Ranaerospo ‘s 사랑해 during college years in late 70s. After 3years’ military service, despite so many huddles, our wedding took place, our marriage was carried on. For so many years our love has not failed yet, though we have deeply loved each other, often intense arguments and fierce fights continued as we went over financial stress, family issues and career changes so on. I used to say, I can do it, or I will take care of it, though for most cases that wasn’t enough and fell short of my wife expectation.  I tend to believe that our recurrent conflicts are meant to be for our spousal tie recognizing our stark difference in many ways except one— we both were brought up in financially poor family. I was only son, grew up independently without proper parent care; she was first daughter of five siblings shaped by duty and responsibility. All my backgrounds were not possible for my study plan in US. I believed it was a miracle that made our abroad trip possible.

Our two children grew up with new name Lydia and David when they entered kindergarten. We had attended a church where all congregations were white Americans (with some blacks) except us. Jacob was added for my middle name when I was called to the ordained ministry and served 태평양교회 at South Pasadena (This is the town Issac have lived during his early writing career). Later period I walked away from that institution and never regretted since. I couldn’t succeed my dream of becoming an architect. In fact, I cease to chase my own dream that seem causing too much sacrifice from my wife and children. I begin to imagine what and how to make our family as intimate, happy and healthy whole overcoming cultural and generational gap between my children and their parents. Afterall, our life-together began as I was building a home called, Myra House nearby striking mountain views. Our home place has shattered by heavy rainstorm, severe drought, scorching heat and monstrous wildfires, but surely splendid blossoms take place and bounty harvest arrives when a time is right.  When our journey faced a dead end, I take a deep breath and look to the mountain. And mysteriously new door is opened so we can enter and retry. I have discovered my own language through hard works, mistakes, frustrations, rages, despairs, and forgiveness. It has been cultivated by simple trust in humanity and life—its creative impulse, organic beauty and resilient sustenance. Since we moved to Myra House, we take care of a small farm and raising chickens maintaining various house and garden projects one at a time. Our home has a few extra bedrooms so that guests and extended family can stay for their lodging.

*To Issac directly: I am immensely proud of your accomplishment as a writer and director in this country. Big cheers to your parents how they become so happy looking back what they have done for you. Keep up doing your good work! You and your family are welcome to our home. We want to hold a dinner party when you and your family visit us someday. I want to share our story, the second half of journey how we become to live now after so many twists and turns.