Minari (2020)

(Amazon Streaming, November 2021) It’s easy to see why Minari would get the attention of the Academy in selecting its Best Picture Awards nominations — it’s the kind of progressive character-driven picture that uses an intimate story to tackle a large-scale social issue. (It’s also one of those movies that further drives apart the public from the Academy, but let’s not rehash that again right now.)  The film takes us to 1980s heartland America, where a Korean family has purchased a farm with the intent of launching a produce-growing operation. But that only scratches at the cultural shock, family strife and business frustration that follows, as finding water is hard, the mother-in-law comes to stay, and there’s never anything to be taken for granted in agriculture. Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung draws upon his own experiences in creating Minari, but more importantly doesn’t miss on the small telling details that give life to it. It’s handled in a frequently funny fashion and avoids many of the obvious plot beats that viewers could have expected from the time and place. (Yes, some of the racism is there, but it doesn’t take as much space as you’d dread.)  The farming sequences are quite satisfying to see unfold over a year, and the actors do well — with specific acclaim for Youn Yuh-jung’s Oscar-winning performance. There’s some inherent interest in watching a rural American film being more than half in subtitled Korean, and the entire thing manages to be quite charming. Minari remains a small and subtle film, not overly spectacular but likable where it counts.