‘Minari’ director says immigration is universal theme

Director Lee Isaac Chung of “Minari” (2020), a Korean American family’s heartwarming immigrant drama, said Friday he thinks stories about immigration can appeal to audiences of all backgrounds because life is a journey.

Chung, known for the Golden Globe-winning film “Minari,” said his personal experience of growing up as a son of Korean immigrants in a small farm in Arkansas inspired him to tell his own story, and he was surprised to see the overwhelming response from audiences.

“When it comes to immigration, I wonder if we are all living in that reality of being an immigrant (and) being in transition from one place to another, not feeling rooted someplace,” Chung said in a press event for the Busan International Film Festival.

Chung was speaking during a special program in focus on Korean diasporic cinema, along with Justin Chon, the director of Apple TV+’s series “Pachinko”; actor John Cho of “Columbus” (2017) and “Searching” (2018); actor Steven Yeun of “Minari,” Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning” (2018) and Netflix series “Beef.”

Chung said he discovered the universal appeal of diasporic theme while meeting people from all different walks of life who shared their own experiences of dealing with the stress of moving to another city or starting a new job.

“I wonder if that has something to do with it, that the immigrant story speaks to many experiences,” he said. “You know, life is a journey. So it’s a wonderful way to present a story: the idea of people in transition or moving somewhere.”

Yeun, who played a struggling father adjusting to American rural life in “Minari,” said immigration stories present an interesting and dramatic setup that can engage audiences with their own experiences of being an underdog struggling to fit in.

“We’re living in a very self-aware reality where everything has its defined place. We are all seeing the same system does not work and function for anybody. So I think a lot of those structures are being broken down,” Yeun said. “Moving forward, it’s that ability to start from the ground up, start new, and I think that is we’re all headed: that immigrant mentality.”