More On:
Lee Isaac Chung
-
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Twisters’ on VOD, in Which Glen Powell Charms His Way Through An Entertaining Throwback Extravaganza
-
'Twisters' Comes to Digital, But When Will 'Twisters' Be Streaming on Peacock?
-
Where’s Yeri Han’s Oscar Buzz For 'Minari'?
-
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Minari' on VOD, an Extraordinary Comedy-Drama About Korean Immigrants Planting Their Roots in America
Watch out, Jason Sudeikis in a hoodie, because Minari director Lee Isaac Chung might just take home the prize for the most internet-worthy acceptance speech, thanks to his five-year-old daughter.
As soon as the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film was announced for Minari, Chung’s daughter flew into his arms and gave him a big hug, for everyone to see, exclaiming, “I prayed, I prayed, I prayed!” It was absolutely, ridiculously adorable, and not at all unlike the adorable young Minari lead Alan Kim, who plays David in the film, and who is around the same age as Chung’s daughter.
Chung beamed and gracefully accepted the hugs from his daughter, telling his web camera, “She’s the reason I made this film.”
Obviously, Twitter ate the entire thing up with a spoon. How can your heart not melt at such a pure display of love and support?
However, even though Chung’s daughter was a moment of pure joy, the win was not without complications. Despite the fact that Minari is an American-made film—filmed in America, about a Korean-American immigrant family, and made by an American writer/director—the Golden Globes relegated the film to the “Foreign Language Film” category, and shut it out of the “Best Picture” category, a controversial decision.
Chung addressed the controversy in a subtle way in his speech, by talking about a theme of the film: language.
“Minari is about a family—it’s a family trying to learn how to speak a language of their own,” Chung said in his acceptance speech. “It goes deeper than any American language, and any foreign language. It’s a language of the heart. I’m trying to learn it myself and pass it on, and I hope we’ll all learn how to speak this language of love to each other, especially this year.”
Written and directed by Chung, Minari stars Steven Yeun as an ambitious South Korean immigrant named Jacob Yi who moves his family from the city life in San Francisco to the middle-of-nowhere in Arkansas, to pursue his dream of running his own farm. The film is based on Chung’s own experience growing up as a South Korean immigrant in Arkansas and is not available to watch on premium video-on-demand.