Minari

“Minari, So Wonderful! So Wonderful” Life is beautiful, isn’t it? I know it’s a bit of a worn out phrase, but it really is. Weird how we have to say things to ourselves to acknowledge that the fact that we’re alive is truly beyond beautiful. But Minari knows life is beautiful, from the first shot, to the very last, it understands the experience of living. It understands love, it understands joy, it understands sadness and it understands anger. Lee Isaac Chung paints a beautiful, powerful, vivid, and heartfelt portrait of assimilation and life with his brilliant screenplay and outstanding direction. Keeping everything grounded in reality, only helped further by the complexity and absolutely spellbinding performances from Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Cho, and Youn Yuh-jung. Han Ye-ri being the true standout here with her devastating portrayal of Monica. I started writing this review last night and I just couldn’t, because of one simple reason, this film left me absolutely speechless. I didn’t know what to say, I didn’t even know how to say anything after watching except for “Wow”. Minari is a truly beautiful experience, and undoubtedly a film everyone needs to watch before they leave this earth.