Minari Film Review
“너는 행복할 때 가장 예뻐 보인다”
“You look prettiest when you're happy.”- Jacob, Minari, 2020.
I am convinced that A24 doesn’t have the capacity nor the inclination to make a bad movie. I don’t want to be one of those people who say they love movies and they think they have good taste because they like A24. Subsequently, their favorite horror movie is Hereditary. Or their favorite coming-of-age movie is Moonlight or Waves. I will say they make some great movies, I will leave it at that. I have heard great things about Minari and how it was one of the studio's best. But just like with music I like to take my time with films. I hate to waste my time watching a film that sucks. I take forever to pick a movie if it's not on my list. Half the time I don’t pick anything and pick back up a show or I watch YouTube. Minari was the first movie I had on my watchlist and was the reason I created the watchlist, I want to say back in 2021. Here I am 4 years and some change later writing a review about it. I would say it was worth the wait but that I would imply waiting I was just too lazy/picky or with everything being in and out of streaming platforms it all adds up to about four years and some change, but anyway I finally watched it and here is what I think about it.
This film is all about the characters and watching them succeed, fail, fall, run, cry, shout. It was a joy to experience all the pain and happiness the family experienced throughout the film. My notes for this film consisted of quotes and times when it made me say wow. The film has a way of showing organic humor that furthers the plot. It feels natural when David pees in the cup and gives it to his grandma, showing his disdain towards the cup he was forced to drink and for his grandma. Or when the Grandma comments on David wetting the bed and asks how you say what the word is for male private parts, it becomes a running joke. Or when Paul lightly rebukes Jacob when he offers him a cigarette. “Get that away from me in the name of Jesus! Chu Chu Chu!” It just all felt natural. I was interested in the characters more than anything. I wanted Jacob to succeed where others failed. I wanted David to come around to his Grandma. I wanted Monica Jacobs's wife to come to appreciate their new life there. Then once those wants were established comes the crossroads that this film takes us to. The differing wants of the Characters. “Remember what we said when we got married? That we’d move to America and save each other?”Jacob wants to show himself and his family that he can do it, and can build a good life for himself and his family. Monica just wants to be safe and secure whether that be staying in California and doing the same job until they both die or anywhere else as long as the kids are safe and secure. We see this being fleshed out throughout the film. What if the goal of a better life comes at the price of your family? What is the point of it now? I believe this film tackles the struggles of being a father and the head of the household. I am reminded of J. Cole when he said, “No such thing as a life that’s better than yours.” I think it's apropos for this film. The stripping of pride and loving the family no matter where they are. As long as they are together, that's what is at stake throughout this film. We see the bonds weaken, strengthen, and take form. It's a wonderful thing to witness. There is one bond in particular that I think is the prize of this film. The bond between David and his grandma.
The more the son tries to push the grandma away the stronger the bond will become. Because when he comes around he will realize how much she actually loves and cares for him.
I wrote this note while watching the film and man was I right on. It reminded me of the love of Christ and made me a bit emotional. How we push and claw away, but the love is still there. Even when he gave her piss to drink, she didn’t want to see him being punished by his father. Now don’t read too much into that that Jesus doesn’t want us to get punished by God and God still punishes, that creates a false dichotomy and isn’t an accurate depiction of the trinity, pitting God against Jesus. I digress on that theological point, anyway, about the relationship between grandson and Grandma. It became a beautifully woven story within the grand narrative of the film. The dynamic between them two stole the show whenever Paul wasn’t on screen (it's between Paul and Soonja the grandma of my favorite character in the movie). He pushes and she just uses that to love him more. It seemed that there was nothing that David could do for her to love him less. He didn’t do anything to deserve it, she even loved him before he ever knew her. So many parallels to the love of God and this is something that I have been reading about in a book called “Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts,” by Steve Turner. One of the points he makes is that even though a piece of art isn’t explicitly Christian or by a Christian artist doesn’t mean we can’t find some of the same values and longings that we hold dear to our Christian hearts. While having Christian elements like a cross, holy water and even speaking in tongues(I was genuinely shocked when that came about, I love Paul’s character!). It's not categorized as a Faith film and shouldn’t necessarily be treated as such, but its showcase of Love is something that can’t be ignored and for any Christian watching the film I believe they can’t help but see glimpses of the Love that has transformed our lives in this film. But hey its not a Christian film, so how is that possible? Because God is not just Lord in the Church but outside of it as well.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the musical score of this film. From this film came the viral score titled “Jacob and the Stone” by Emile Mosseri. I was surprised when I heard it in the film. I have heard it before and I relish the opportunity of being surprised with songs I know in film, it is a great reason for me to like a movie. While yes the song works outside of the film as a brooding discovery piece. It fits perfectly into this film, almost like it was made for it! Humor aside, my favorite part about the score wasn’t just the song itself, it's the fact that they found pockets of space to play it throughout the film and it fit seamlessly. I tried to recall a time when a film played the same song, score, or not more than once in the same film. Not counting during the film and then in the post-credits. If there was one, it wasn’t done well enough for me to care. I listened to the rest of the score and a chef's kiss to Emile Mosseri for this heart-wrenching makes you want to sit on a porch overlooking a sunset in the middle of nowhere.
As I said before the characters are what make this film one of the best that A24 has to offer. What I have come to learn as a budding writer and all the books and videos and classes I have taken, and with trial and error. If you don’t want something to happen for the character or to the character then no matter how good your dialogue, exposition, or plot is, it doesn’t get even get off the ground. It stays there lifeless and flatlined. I can pick any great or even good movie and have an example of this. Grand Torino, you want Walt to befriend the neighbors and get out of his shell, you smile and cry throughout that film because of the wants you have for Walt and in turn the subsequent characters of Thao and his sister. The other most recent movie I watched was Notting Hill, I have a guilty pleasure of romance movies, not necessarily rom-coms but I don’t mind a bit of humor with it. Notting Hill is one of the best rom-coms if you want to call it that that I have seen. Not because it was funny, or had a linear path to follow. But like Hugh Grant's Character and Julia Roberts’s character, you fell in love with them. They created that space for you to have wants for the characters, and those wants were the same ones they wanted, to be with each other. It seems simple but especially when it comes to Romance movies is hardly done well enough for the amount of oversaturation we get in that genre. I could go on and on and on, but you get the point. It starts with characters and makes us care about the characters, whether that be a former slave turned bounty hunter named Django, or even the makeup-induced maniacal villain, the Joker. You want Django to succeed, you want the Joker to get caught, but yet are on the edge of your seat when he escapes yet again. The reason I have come to appreciate Minari the more I think about it is that it is the care factor for almost every character on the screen. I not only cared for the family, and each individual I cared about what happened to them. That is what a great film does. It's easy to get wrapped up in one character and go from there, and don’t get me wrong that can still produce great movies, but you need more than one, and this one gave us a whole family and Paul.
Now with all that being said I think it's obvious of the rating I am going to give it, from the way I have talked and praised this movie for the entirety of the review but I will still do my due diligence with giving the rating. I believe this movie will age like fine wine for me and is an easy, easy 10/10. When I rewatch it a year or two years from now it will probably be better than the first time.
Thanks if you have read this far, I really do appreciate it, till next time!
