McMullen: ‘Minari’ is uplifting story of salvation and humanity
Cary McMullen
Last week, just before the Academy Awards ceremony, my wife and I watched the film “Minari,” which was nominated for six Oscars. It tells the story of an immigrant family from South Korea, who purchase a farm in rural Arkansas in the 1980s. We were especially interested in the film because my wife grew up in South Korea as the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries. She readily identified with the Yi family, their culture and their speech.
It’s an uplifting movie, one that is both uniquely American and yet universal in its theme of the struggles of a man and woman to improve their lives but at odds on the best way to do it. America has provided them the opportunity but not the skills to live together while running a farm, worrying about a child with a heart condition and navigating a new and strange culture. We root for them to overcome the obstacles.