Warning: This story contains spoilers forMinari.
Lee Isaac Chung’s sweeping family dramaMinarialmost had a much more downbeat ending.
The accident mirrors a moment from writer-director Chung’s own childhood in the Ozarks.
Steven Yeun, Alan Kim, Yuh-jung Youn, Han Ye-ri, and Noel Cho in ‘Minari’.Josh Ethan Johnson/A24
In the film, Jacob eventually forsakes his crop to ensure Monica gets out safe.
Outside, a disoriented Soonja wanders away.
Her grandson David (breakout starAlan Kim) chases after her and implores her to return home.
Yuh-jung Youn in ‘Minari’.A24
Some time after, Jacob, Monica, and a water diviner locate the perfect spot for a well.
Jacob remarks that Soonja chose a good spot to plant the resilient vegetable.
It flashes forward seven years, when David and sister Anne (Noel Cho) are teenagers.
As the family’s lives improved, Soonja’s declined, a voiceover from David reveals.
She dies in a nursing home, not long after her grandchildren visit her.
“My producer, Christina Oh, asked me to think about why I wanted to make this film.
I thought about it, but it was like squeezing water from a rock.
I had no idea why I wanted to make the film.
I just knew that I wanted to.”
He believes he felt his late grandmother’s spirit while makingMinari.
“I think watching Youn Yuh-jung would make her laugh,” he says.
“Maybe it would rank somewhere up there with wrestling.”
