Among the independent films that came out this year's awards season, two are quite special. One is "A Land of Nowhere" by Chinese female director Zhao Ting, and the other is "Minari" by Korean male director Zheng Yishuo, both of which describe the life experiences of marginalized people in American society. Zhao Ting did not talk about the Chinese, but asked about the homeless people living in desert RVs. The film was vigorous and powerful; while Zheng Yishuo told the pioneering story of a new Korean immigrant in the United States, and the story was warm and moving.
Minari, which means "water celery" in Korean, thrives wherever it is planted, a metaphor for the new immigrants struggling to survive in American cities and villages — one life, but one life. The Jacob Lee family is a portrayal of water celery: for Jacob's dream of owning his own farm, three generations of the family have experienced various setbacks and conflicts in the vast Arkansas prairie, but in the end they are still in This savage land survived.
This is a somewhat old-fashioned main tone, but fortunately, the film has extremely detailed line drawing, which makes the story appealing. In fact, among the three generations and five members of the Jacobs family, there are quite a few details of their lives that reflect the difficulties they face. Among them, the subtle evolution of the contradiction between the little boy and his grandmother is expressed in a friendly, natural and long-lasting way. In addition, the film silently substitutes more social contradictions: cultural differences between the East and the West, religious complexes, the social situation of new immigrants, etc., so that the family's predicament has a social and cultural background.
But unfortunately, the movie seems to hope to cover too many themes in this way, as if some kind of warmth can resolve all the contradictions in the world. The video and music on some bridges are a bit too extravagant, a bit sensational but hard to touch the soul. Originally, the film landed on a very hardcore story and theme, but it turned out to be a little too feminine and feminine, not as sharp and aggressive as I had hoped.
So it's interesting in comparison: two new Asian immigrant directors, the female director Zhao Ting's "Nowhere" is quite manly, while the male director's "Minari" is very feminine. But in any case, both of them are a bright spot in the independent film industry this year.
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