Minari

This beautifully crafted film is nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture, Actor and Director (Oscars are on Sunday, April 25). It takes its time, but not in a wasteful way, to tell the story of a Korean father who moves his family to a farm in rural Arkansas to satisfy his need to work for himself and to create a thriving and successful business (produce farming). The dialog is sparse but every word counts and the family dynamics become increasingly complex to the viewer. As the relationships between husband and wife, sister and brother, grandma and grandson experience a range of emotions and evolution, so too does the audience from their voyeuristic perspective. While I wasn’t initially dying to view the film after reading the overall premise, I learned that it gets very deep indeed.