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An Essay on the Structure and Meaning of the Movie Minari (2020) through Character Analysis

  • Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • 2022, 79(3), pp.327-356
  • DOI : 10.17326/jhsnu.79.3.202208.327
  • Publisher : Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : July 12, 2022
  • Accepted : August 9, 2022
  • Published : August 31, 2022

Kim Mee Young 1

1홍익대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper examined the characters in Lee Isaac-Jung’s movie Minari (2020) in order to analyze the structure of narrative and the meanings of this film. The film is based on the conflict between Jacob (the husband) and Monica (the wife), and the conflict between Sun-ja (the grandmother) and David (the grandson). Jacob as a Korean husband and dad tends to be a little bit patriarchal and dogmatic. However, he has a spirit of challenge, sincerity, and wishes to pursue the American dream for his family’s future. Monica is diligent and calm, wishing for her son’s health and for the family to live together. The couple are at odds when Jacob sets up a farm in Arkansas. However, both are devoted and sincere to their families. In this movie, the advent of Sun-ja, Monica’s mother is the signal for the full-scale development of the narrative. Although Sun-ja is a war widow, she is optimistic and enjoys learning foreign cultures and languages. David, a 7-year-old boy, is naughty, but smart and sociable. Sun-ja and David gradually build ties as a family as they quarrel due to cultural and generational differences. Sun-ja, who suffers from dementia, sets a barn for crops on fire, but this incident brings the Jacob family together. The film starts with an immigration narrative and progresses to a family narrative, and the natural acting of Yoon Yeo-jeong, who plays Sun-ja, leads the play brightly and flexibly. The balance of the four characters in this movie provides completeness. The theme of the process of overcoming difficulties of immigrants and the discovery of the value of family love adds to the public empathy of the film, along with the symbolism of the title ‘Minari’, which means immigrant families.

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