“The movie’Buttercup’ is the language of sincerity”
Golden Globe Foreign Language Film Awards Director Lee Isaac Jeong, Korean American
Warm affection and love delivered in Korean “You must have liked the grandmother who passed away”
“‘Minari’ is a story of a family trying to communicate in their own language. The language is not English or other foreign languages, but’the language of sincerity’.” This is the impression of the award from director Lee Isaac Jeong (Isak Jeong) who received the 78th Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film Award for the movie’Minari’ on the 1st (Korean time).
The mention of language stems from the controversy that arose after’Minari’ was classified as a foreign language film. ‘Buttercup’ was produced by Plan B, a film company founded by American actor Brad Pitt. Director Jung and Stephen Yeon-do, a Korean American who plays the lead role and producer. In the list of candidates for the awards ceremony that day, the nationality of’Minari’ was marked in the United States. However, according to the Hollywood Foreign Journalists Association (HFPA) regulations, where more than half of the conversations are classified as foreign language films if they are not in English, they were excluded from major nominations such as Best Works.
The content of the film is American as it was made based on Jung’s autobiographical experience. This course deals with the lives and sorrows of a Korean family who moved to Arkansas in the US in the 1980s. The couple of Jacob (Steven Yeon) and Monica (Yeri Han) came to the United States following the American Dream. Settled on a farm in Arkansas with the desire to cultivate fertile land. Monica’s mother Sun-ja (Yoon Yeo-jung) also comes from Korea to take care of David (Alan Kim) and Anne (Noel Kate Jo), who have a bad heart.
The process of relying on each other and overcoming hardships and trials is in line with the American Dream. Director Jung highlights the self-sacrifice and ascetic life of the American working class, which was the basis of this. He criticizes the Donald Trump administration’s immigration policy, reflecting on the value of tolerance and opportunity that allowed them to express their will without distinction between natives and immigrants.
The dpa news agency pointed out that “It is an American story centered on Korean-Americans, but it is the only American film that has won the foreign language film category.” He then pointed to the title, Buttercup, and introduced it as “traditional Korean herb that symbolizes strength, a metaphor for persistence and trust found by Korean immigrant families in the face of hardships.” CNN emphasized that “The elimination of nominations for’Minari’ for the best work raises a serious problem of racial discrimination in Hollywood,” and “more than 20% of Americans speak a language other than English at home.”
Director Jung called it’the language of sincerity’. “I try to learn and pass on myself,” he said. “I hope we all learn to speak to each other in this language.” In a pre-interview with the Golden Globe candidate, he said, “When my daughter turned seven, I started seeing the world through his eyes.
In the movie, the role of director Jeong’s past is David. She communicates with her maternal grandmother Sunja in a’language of sincerity’ and realizes warm affection and love. Director Jung wanted to convey the process as it is. Therefore, many Koreans were inserted even with concerns about the procurement of production costs. There was a belief that even if you are not limited to immigrants, you can convey your impressions. “If my grandmother was still alive, I would have been very proud of the fact that I shot a movie in Korean without compromise.”
Reporter Lee Jong-gil [email protected]