The film-maker on how his rural childhood inspired the Golden Globe-winning Minari, now a strong contender for an Academy Award
Oenanthe javanica, AKA water celery or Japanese parsley, is a herb used in various Asian cuisines; in Korea it’s known as minari. “It’s the type of plant you put into food to provide a little bit more of a kick,” says Korean-American film-maker Lee Isaac Chung. Chung didn’t like it himself as a child, but his grandmother planted it on the Arkansas farm where the director grew up, and Minari is now the title of his new feature – a fictionalised evocation of his childhood.
The herb is known for flourishing where other plants struggle – making Minari a suitable name for a story about the fight to put down roots, as Chung’s family did when they arrived in Arkansas in the 1970s. Seen through the eyes of seven-year-old David Yi, Minari is a lyrical, often droll story about family ties, cultural identity and the problems kids might have with a grandmother they love, but who can be weird and embarrassing, too. Minari won the grand jury prize and the audience award in Sundance last year, and last week won best foreign language film at the Golden Globes, with Oscar hopes ahead.
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