Isaac Chung, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Thank you so much, Trevor.
So good to be with you.
Um, let's start with congratulations.
Your film has been nominated for six Academy Awards,
which is--
I mean, it's huge to be nominated for one,
but this is six
in some of the most prestigious categories ever.
And what makes it even more impressive is,
just a few years ago,
you were thinking about quitting filmmaking
so you could get a "real job."
(chuckles) That's right.
Uh, yeah, you know, I-I told myself,
by the time I hit 40,
if-if nothing's happening,
I have to really grow up
and-and, uh, take on a responsible job.
So, for me, that was becoming a professor.
Uh, and I signed on to become a professor,
and I had a few months to write a script.
And this was kind of, like, my last swing at it, basically.
Hey, man, it was-- it was your last swing,
but it was o-one of the most amazing swings.
'Cause you s-- y-you know, you swung for the fences
-and you hit the ball out of the park. -Thank you so much.
Um, everybody agrees
that, um... (accented): Minari, some people--
obviously, Minari, when they say it in English--
will go, "It is...
just..." It's-it's a film that connects with everybody,
and it's a story that everybody understands
and yet is uniquely yours.
Because you tell the tale
of a Korean family trying to integrate into rural Arkansas
and the journey that follows.
And, on the surface, it seems like,
"Oh, this is gonna be one of those sad stories that's--
it's just heartbreaking and..."
And it's just-- it's an everything story.
Some of the scenes will make you want to cry.
Some of the scenes had me laughing so hard
that you-you want to pause the movie
just so you can finish laughing at what's going on.
Thanks so much, Trevor.
Yeah, I mean, it's-it's been wild
to see people really connecting with this.
'Cause I-I just wanted to tell an honest story.
Uh, my-my main audience for this,
I was thinking about my daughter.
Uh, she's seven years old right now.
But I was thinking about the type of film
I want to leave behind for her
i-if, uh, she's gonna even just be reading the script alone.
I didn't know if I was even gonna be able to make this film.
Uh, but to see people responding to it in this way--
You know, I-I've had people come up to me
and talk about their grandmothers to me,
talk about watching wrestling with their grandmothers,
you know, little details that have been so amazing
and precious, so it's been wild.
Y-You what it is? Wh-When you make a film like this,
when you tell a story like this,
it makes people feel.
They don't just watch the movie.
They feel. They feel the story.
They feel the characters.
They feel the journey that everybody goes on.
You know, it's-it's the American dream
clashing with the American reality.
And you feel that,
as this Korean family tries to, you know,
grab a foothold of-of what their journey's gonna be
in the 1980s in America, in a-- in a very different time,
and yet, sometimes, all too familiar with today's America.
I'd love to know how-- when you were telling the story,
some people would go, like, "Oh, you know, like, Isaac,
"surely you're gonna incorporate a few more,
"you know, white people or-or a few more Black people
or a few more anything," but it feels like you were just like,
"No, this is how it was, and this is how I’m going
to tell it." Were you-- Did you ever feel pressure
to make the story more than what it was?
Um, I mean,
because this was a last-ditch effort for me,
because I knew this might be the last thing that I make,
I wanted to just do it on my own terms, really.
So I-I didn't feel any of those pressures.
Um, I-I remember feeling as though, uh,
I knew that this film had to work
on that feelings level though, that...
Y-You know, there's so much for all of us
that connects us and makes us human
that goes to that emotional level.
Um, and I knew that if I tried to hit that level,
then I could try to create something
that speaks to anybody,
that it doesn't matter if there are more white people
or-or, you know, uh,
if we're speaking more English in this film.
I just knew that the emotions would speak louder than words.
Right.
That was-- that was one of the, um...
the-the talking points that-that I think emerged in
and around the film is, you know, when-when the film
was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film,
a lot of people were angry, saying,
"This is not foreign language.
"People are speaking Korean, but they're in Am--
This is just a film."
And-and it's actually prompted a conversation in and around that.
Did you have any opinions on that?
Yeah, I-I intentionally decided
I’m not gonna let anything outside of this family
and of this story define this story.
So I-I wanted everything to come from within this family itself.
Um, a-and that's-that's an issue of authenticity, I think.
That's something that we were aiming for.
And to see that kind of butt heads against
or challenge existing categories, um,
I don't know, I-I feel something good about that.
I feel like that's a good thing that a-a work of art can do,
that it can kind of challenge people,
-uh, and the definitions that we have. -Definitely.
Yeah, definitely. Because it's-it's...
You know, what I love about this movie
is that it is uniquely American.
And one of my favorite moments--
I won't spoil it for people who haven't watched it--
but I-I would just like to know, because it's based on your life,
is the Mountain Dew prank, did--
-was that a real thing that happened? -(laughs)
Tr-Trevor, can you believe all this, uh...
just how much, uh, l-- how far this film has gone
based on a story of a kid who would feed his grandmother pee?
-(laughing) -I mean, that-that's what--
that's what this is, Trevor.
Um, I mean, to be honest,
when I was a kid, I remember we had crates of Mountain Dew
in our garage, and, uh...
and my dad, uh, he-he felt like Mountain Dew
was some kind of health elixir
because it came from the mountains.
-(laughing) -You know, that was an honest thought that he had.
So I knew I had to put that into the story.
And then I knew that there could be
a running gag with that as well to, you know,
-just bring some lightness, make people laugh. -Right.
Um, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up a film like this
connecting with people at a time like this.
You know, being Asian American has always come with it
stigmas and stereotypes
that have followed the Asian community.
Films like this,
although I don't believe they just change people,
I do believe they connect people to the humanity of others
who they may not have ever met or even known as human beings.
When you created this movie,
did you think that it would have that impact?
And were you even-- were you even designing it accordingly?
Or were you just going, "No, I'm gonna tell the story
"and, just like the people in my life, they will love me
or love it because it is what it is"?
Right. I-I mean, it was more of the latter
of-of what you're saying.
I-I just wanted to create a story
that is about fatherhood or about, uh, being a farmer,
about being a husband, about, uh, failure.
So I-I felt like going for those things
basically allowed this family to be humanized.
It-it was meant to be a story about human beings, really.
-Right. -Um, and I think that's the effort
that we have to go through in the Asian American community
and-and many communities.
We have to humanize ourselves constantly,
show-- I mean, w-we're really human beings.
And that goes back to what you were saying
about language as well. It doesn't matter
what we're speaking.
Um, there-there's more to us that's-that's similar,
that goes down fundamentally to our souls and-and who we are.
Thank you so much, 'cause the film truly is amazing.
Good luck. Good luck at the Oscars.
-Thanks so much. Thank you. -Thanks, Isaac.