Brilliant.
.
Utterly.
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The narrative unfolds with an understated precision.
With beautiful cinematography.
Each character was significant. And delivered.
.
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This film reminded me of a slow, methodical, intense game of Jenga…
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We understand the aim of the narrative—a Korean-American family relocates from a big California city to a small rural town in Arkansas in the 1980s.
A completely built structure.
.
Jacob (Steven Yeun), the patriarch moves his wife Monica (Yeri Han) and their two children, Anne (Noel Kate Cho) & David (Alan S. Kim), into a structurally-damaged mobile home with the hopes of starting a farm on surrounding lands. David, the youngest of the two children, has a heart murmur and Monica is concerned that moving far away from a hospital sets them up for failure.
Confidently pulls away a loose block.
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Jacob needs to get water to land but refuses to pay for access to the county’s tap. He meets a local man named Paul (Will Patton) who assists with starting the farm, but realizes he can’t bypass the process. Monica is worried about their finances. Monica and Jacob work as chicken sexers at a local plant for security.
Pulls block.
.
Monica’s mother Soonja (Yuh-jung Youn), comes to stay with them. Jacob originally opposes the decision but relents. Soonja and David’s relationship starts off a bit rocky, but it’s pure and lovely. Soonja is helpful until she becomes ill.
The structure is wobbly. Carefully pulls block.
.
Monica continues to worry about David. She realized while she’s been engaging with David and Soonja, and arguing with Jacob, she’s been neglecting Anne. Jacob continues to focus on the farm. It is his main priority. He wants it to be successful so that his family knows he can achieve something. In his consistent prioritization, he emotionally neglects his family.
Monica’s fatigue grows.
Easy, na. Steady. Pulls block. 😰
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After a successful doctor’s visit and meeting with a restauranteur in the city, the family travels back home to a devastating site.
.
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And I legit had the hand-over-ears devastated face. 😱😱
That last act really made me still.
I could feel the devastation through the screen.
That sequence was powerful, and heart-wrenching.
I couldn’t believe it they pulled it off.
I kept thinking, “what are the producers/director/cinematographer thinking right now?”
And “is this real smoke?”
And “please, somebody yell ‘cut!!’ Dis tew much!!!!”🥺😢😩
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Jenga is a terrible game, bruh.
The suspense kills you.
You know the tower’s gonna fall, and you don’t want it to fall on your turn.
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Minari was like building up the most beautiful Jenga tower with the giant blocks. And seeing it wobble, knowing it would fall on your turn at some point, then it doesn’t.
The game keeps going, but then it eventually falls. And it crashes. It’s loud. And it’s painful.
But the aftermath is kinda beautiful. Like the destruction is scattered and messy, but bad part is over. Then you start inspecting the mess—looking at the blocks, feeling the wood. And you build again.
A reset.
.
A brilliant film.
Utterly.