So when the Golden Globes air on Sunday, this American film written and directed by an American about the struggles of a family on his American farm will be competing in an amazing category: the best foreign language film.
‘Minari’ is an American story in more ways than one
Lee Isaac Chung, the Colorado-born writer and director of “Minari”, says he based many details of the script on his own experiences growing up as the son of Korean immigrants on a farm in Arkansas.
The film’s title comes from the Korean name for a tough herb. But there is no doubt that the film’s vivid and richly textured scenes tell a decidedly American story – from Ozark’s pastoral landscapes to interior church pews and the Yi family home.
About his books “O Pioneers!” and “My Antonia,” Cather once said that he had written stories inspired by his own creation, after years of imitating cosmopolitan authors in New York.
“She wrote that her work really took off when she stopped admiring and started to remember,” Chung told CNN. “And that’s what made me finally sit down and just write my memoirs. And it became the heart of a movie.”
Why the Golden Globe nomination hit a nerve
The memories that Chung weaves together in “Minari” are something that many Americans who grew up in immigrant families can relate to: the joy of a visiting family member bringing spices from home, the struggles of different generations to connect, the emotions repressed by parents risking everything to support the family, the faces of children who are trying to fit in.
For Yuen, it seems important.
“Many of us are seeing our stories on the screen for the first time,” she says.
So when the first news came that the Golden Globe eligibility rules would force “Minari” to compete in the “best foreign language film” category, it hurt.
For some, it was déjà vu compared to the previous year, when Lulu Wang’s 2019 film “The Farewell” was excluded from the award ceremony’s best comedy race because much of the film was in Mandarin.
“It is great that these films are being made, but it is terrible that they are being placed in the foreign language categories,” said Yuen. “We should not be punished for telling different American stories that have not been told before.”
What the prize rules say
The Golden Globe rules are not new. But some argue that it is past time for the association to reevaluate the criteria it uses for its prestigious awards.
“More than 350 languages are spoken in American homes today. So what does ‘foreign language’ mean?” Jimenez told CNN. “It is a very important moment for us, as an American society, to be investigating our own prejudice about films like this, about stories like this, about stories of immigrants – what resonates or not as ‘American’ for people.”
“It has implications for changing the industry about who is recognized and who is not,” he says. “This can have a disproportionate impact on your career path.”
And important stories can go unnoticed – and invisible.
The director feared that he would have to do ‘Minari’ in English
In turn, the writer and director of “Minari” says he does not feel that competing in the category of foreign films dishonors the film or his work. But Chung says he understands the frustrations that many have expressed.
“I feel very divided about everything that happened. They are just the rules they have in that category, ”he says. “These conversations are good … We are starting to see that being an American, being someone in this country – the image of this is more complex than we can imagine. And I feel that films need to reflect that. Rules and institutions must reflect this. And it is good that we can have this conversation. ”
When Chung thinks about language and his film, however, something else comes to mind.
“My grandmother, if she were still alive, she would be very proud,” he says, “that I can take it and make a film in Korean and not compromise and then start using that foreign language, English.”
Long before this controversy started to form, Chung knew that he needed to find funding to make “Minari” – and he was concerned.
He wanted to tell the story in Korean. But he feared it would be a difficult sale – not to the public, who he knew would connect with a good story when he saw it – but to potential sponsors.
So he also wrote a version of the script with more English, just in case.
Fortunately, says Chung, producer Christina Oh, who is also Korean-American, supported his view.
“She was very adamant from the beginning that we have to do this in Korean, the way we grew up. … She said as a producer, she will go out and do this case, and do that fight.”
This means that Chung was able to show the world a story that reflects the way so many American families live.