Minari (2020) Synopsis

It's the early 1980s. Married Korean-Americans Jacob and Monica Yi have moved their young family, which includes their two children Anne and David Yi, from urban California to rural Arkansas in pursuit of Jacob's dream to make a success of himself for the family. Like they did in California, Jacob and Monica will work in a factory separating baby chicks by sex for processing, in California making just enough money in such work for Jacob, as the oldest son, to send money home to his family in Korea, but also to make this move. That dream is the fifty acres of land he purchased to start a farm growing Korean vegetables for what he sees as the untapped and burgeoning market of the growing Korean-American population. But this move is not Monica's dream, especially living in the three-bedroom trailer propped on cinder blocks that is on the property as their home, the property itself which is undeveloped and largely unserviced in its isolation. One of Monica's major concerns is exactly that isolation in David having a heart defect and she wanting to be in a city to be closer to doctors and a hospital, especially important if something negative happens unexpectedly and quickly with David. That isolation also means that beyond anything she develops with people at the factory, Monica will have no social network. After some heated arguments, Jacob and Monica come to the compromise that they will stay for Jacob to try and make a go of a farm, and that they will bring Monica's long widowed mother from Korea to act as a caregiver for the children while they're at work. Grandmother's arrival into the already cramped trailer adds its own complications in the family dynamic as David has never met his maternal grandmother, who is not what he envisions an American grandmother should be.—Huggo

It's the early 1980s. Married Korean-Americans Jacob and Monica Yi have moved their young family, which includes their two children Anne and David Yi, from urban California to rural Arkansas in pursuit of Jacob's dream to make a success of himself for the family. Like they did in California, Jacob and Monica will work in a factory separating baby chicks by sex for processing, in California making just enough money in such work for Jacob, as the oldest son, to send money home to his family in Korea, but also to make this move. That dream is the fifty acres of land he purchased to start a farm growing Korean vegetables for what he sees as the untapped and burgeoning market of the growing Korean-American population. But this move is not Monica's dream, especially living in the three-bedroom trailer propped on cinder blocks that is on the property as their home, the property itself which is undeveloped and largely unserviced in its isolation. One of Monica's major concerns is exactly that isolation in David having a heart defect and she wanting to be in a city to be closer to doctors and a hospital, especially important if something negative happens unexpectedly and quickly with David. That isolation also means that beyond anything she develops with people at the factory, Monica will have no social network. After some heated arguments, Jacob and Monica come to the compromise that they will stay for Jacob to try and make a go of a farm, and that they will bring Monica's long widowed mother from Korea to act as a caregiver for the children while they're at work. Grandmother's arrival into the already cramped trailer adds its own complications in the family dynamic as David has never met his maternal grandmother, who is not what he envisions an American grandmother should be.—Huggo

Published Time: 2021-02-25 07:35:41