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| A scene from "Minari" / Courtesy of Pancinema |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Director Lee Isaac Chung's "Minari," a moving drama about a Korean immigrant family starting a farm in rural Arkansas, won a Golden Globe for the best foreign-language film Monday (KST).
This is the second consecutive year that a Korean-language film has won the category, following Bong Joon-ho's black-comedy "Parasite" last year.
"Minari is about a family trying to learn how to speak a language of its own. It goes deeper than any American language and any foreign language. It's a language of the heart. I hope we all learn how to speak this language of love to each other, especially this year." Chung said in his acceptance speech, thanking his creative team and family.
Other nominees in the category included Thomas Vinterberg's "Another Round" (Denmark), Jayro Bustamante's "La Llorona" (Guatemala), Edoardo Ponti's "The Life Ahead" (Italy) and Filippo Meneghetti's "Two of Us" (France).
Chung's semi-autobiographical "Minari" tells the story of a Korean immigrant family that moves to rural Arkansas to start a farm in the 1980s. The film has already received numerous accolades and nominations including at the SAG and Critics Choice awards.
While earning rave reviews, "Minari" is now generating Oscar buzz with people looking forward to see whether the film could see nominations, March 15.
"Minari," which is mostly in Korean, did not qualify for the Best Picture ― overall ― since the Hollywood Foreign Press Association stipulates contenders must feature "more than 50 percent English dialogue."
Their decision faced a severe backlash on social media, with many Korean Americans and others of Asian origin in the U.S. entertainment circle arguing that "Minari" was an American film made by an American director and production company.
Meanwhile, many congratulated the "team" for winning the best foreign-language film at the Golden Globes.
"It's a travesty really that an American film Minari wasn't eligible for the Best Picture Drama category and was overlooked in other categories. But its win here will give it further momentum going forward," tweeted Jason Bechervaise, a professor at Korea Soongsil Cyber University.
"MINARI!!!! Congratulations to everyone involved!" tweeted actor Daniel Dae Kim, a Korean American actor who starred in the TV series "Hawaii Five-O."
