Watch a Family Build a New Life in America in ‘Minari’ | Anatomy of a Scene

America as a land of promise, a land of hardship or a land of fun? All three perspectives are seen in this opening sequence from “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung’s drama about a Korean family that moves to Arkansas to build a fresh life in the United States. It is nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture. This sequence observes the Yi family (played by Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Noel Kate Cho and Alan Kim) arriving at their new home, a trailer in the middle of a field. Yeun’s character, Jacob, is proud and optimistic, while Han’s Monica is skeptical. In an interview, Chung said that the scene was in his mind when he first began writing the screenplay and that the story would grow from there, a kind of hopeful emptiness that would be filled in. “That’s why it starts off at a house where it’s not really furnished,” he said. “There’s not even any stairs there.” Then Chung explored the different family members’ perspectives through shots and dialogue, or the lack thereof. Jacob is the