Minari Analysis

 Minari (2020)

Written and Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung
Won the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival
Nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture.

It's a semi-autobiographical film, where the director recalls his upbringing. Such films are usually made in a very personal way, where the small moments are as concentrated on as the big moments. The film has a heavy Hirokazu Kore-eda influence to it, with the writing, directing and the acting. The way Kore-eda captures small moments within a family - like David telling his mom that he dreams that he's pissing in the bathroom but when he wakes up, he's bedwetting, the scene where the father asks David to bring a stick and he brings a wire, the whole interaction between the grandmother and David - there is so much of Kore-eda in everything. The sensitive way of looking at things. The way you love and nurture kids. The scene where David hesitates to tell that she doesn't look like a grandma, it's such a nice moment - because he as a kid doesn't realize that it's actually a compliment. The innocence of a kid is preserved - which is seldom missed because the writers write like themselves, and not actually like a kid.

The relationship arc between David and the grandma is interesting, he initially hates her and by the end of the film - he's the one who calls her back home and asks her not to go. The cinematography and the lighting reminded me of Parasite - and it didn't feel like a period film at all, because of the pristine imagery. It felt like the world of 2020. There's one scene in the hospital where the wife and husband are sitting, looking at the same side and discussing if they should stay back - the blocking of that scene is terrific - there's rack focus that happens in the beginning and after that it just stays like that. The tone of the film is pretty smooth, laidback, and my only complaint is that I could only see Kore-eda everywhere in this film.