Description of assignment: Write a 600-800 word response that critically reflects on at least 2 films and 1 reading per unit.
● For this Critical Reflection 1: You need to reflect about a film screened in class in Week 9 and a film from Week 10, in relation to a reading from Week 9 or Week 10.
● When there are more than 2 films and 1 reading listed in a Unit, you can write about any 2 two films mentioned in the Unit (even if not fully screened in class) in relation to any one reading listed from the Unit. If you missed a class screening you can watch any of the suggested films at home and complete your assignment accordingly.
● In each reflection you need to synthesize your understanding of the 2 films you are writing about in relation to at least one of the readings. In case a reading that you use is about a particular film, then in your reflection it is ok to just relate it to one of the two films you study.
● Let your reflection on the films and reading relate to the unit topic and/or one or more of the broader themes of the course. These include (but are not limited to):
▪ Colonialism, post-colonialism, decoloniality, nationalism
▪ Structures of identity, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, race, otherness
▪ Indigeneity, diasporic and exilic narratives/representations
▪ Notions of migration as represented in film and media
▪ Stereotypes propagated in media, globalization, transculturality
▪ Notions of place; notions of home; border-crossings etc.; the city and migration
▪ climate change and migration; refugee rights, belonging, statehood and statelessness, forced migration
▪ incarceration; technologies of surveillance; protest cultures; human rights discourse, labor struggles, modes of solidarity etc.
▪ Issues of social/political/environmental justice
▪ Diversity in the United States
Week 9: Minari (FIlm and Reading)
Film Screening:
MINARI (by Lee Isaac Chung, 2021)
In case you missed this film, you can watch it online on Kanopy through the UB Library at: https://www.kanopy.com/en/buffalo/video/13626711
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Required Reading (pick one):
Korean American Migration : https://time.com/5938842/minari-korean-american-farmers/
Read only Chapter 2 [pg. 66 to 99]: Lackey E., The immigrant experience in recent U.S. cinema: A discourse analysis.
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/immigrant-experience-recent-u-s-cinema-discourse/docview/2770647578/se-2?accountid=14169
Minari Isn’t Really About the American Dream. It’s About US Empire. (Hyperallergic, Peter Kim George)
Extra Optional Resources:
‘Minari’ wins best foreign-language film, but not without controversy.
Lee Isaac Chung Jotted Down Some Family Memories – They Became ‘Minari’: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/973262034
Filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung and critic Jeffrey Overstreet in Conversation: https://imagejournal.org/2021/02/24/chung-overstreet/
‘We Have the Same Pain and the Same Joy.’ Minari Director Lee Isaac Chung on the Universality of His Golden-Globe Winning Film: https://time.com/5943234/lee-isaac-chung-minari/
Found in translation: Family, immigration and an American Dream, rendered with dignity and detail.
Some questions to help you think more deeply about the film:
– In an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, director Lee Isaac Chung, said, “Ultimately, a patch of minari, this Korean plant that the grandmother plants, that my grandmother planted, that ended up being the only thing that really thrived on that farm…It’s a hardy plant. It kind of grows in places where you can’t grow anything else. It can take root in very poor soil conditions. And what it ends up doing is it actually revitalizes the soil. And it cleans up the water. It has a purifying effect.” How can people be like the symbol of minari, in that they’re not only resilient but make something or some place better than before?
– Thinking back on the movie, is there one scene that’s particularly memorable? What scene, and why does it stick out in your mind? Can you identify a choice the filmmakers made about music, camera angles, etc. that made it especially memorable?
– People often fall into roles in families: The peacemaker, the comedian, the caretaker, etc. Do you think this is a positive or negative thing? Why?
– What are the challenges of maintaining a culture while being a part of another one? What are the pressures of “fitting in” while also being true to yourself/where you came from?
– We are introduced to Minari through young David’s eyes. What do we see in the film because of
this that we might not if it was told through the eyes of Jacob, or Monica?
– Monica and Jacob feel like polar opposites in many ways, and yet we can see how they ended
up together and what they hoped for their lives. In what ways did this resonate with you?
– This movie is deeply rooted in a place, and in a time when Korean immigration was increasing
by leaps and bounds. Yet it treats the question of belonging to a mostly-white community as an
immigrant with a light hand. What did you notice about the Yi family’s experience as
immigrants? Did it make you think of anything else?
– Will Patton’s character, Paul, represents a kind of character we might typically have seen as a
threat in a movie like this — he’s not only a white Korean war veteran, but his version of
Christianity won’t even allow him to blend in with others. What did you think of his character?
Where does he fit into the story?
– The climax of this film is tragic, and there’s no guarantee that things will simply work out for the
Yis. What hope does the film leave you with? And what definition of hope does it give us?
Week 10: Last Resort (FIlm and reading)
Film: Last Resort (UK, 2000 Paweł Pawlikowski )
Note: If you missed this film in class you can rent and stream it online from Amazon Prime or other databases.
If you cannot access it then you can watch In-between days by So Yong Kim on Kanopy via UB Library:
https://www.kanopy.com/en/buffalo/video/114173
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Required Reading: Last resort_reading(https://ublearns.buffalo.edu/content/enforced/121458-2239_19573/Last%20Resort_from%20place%20to%20noplace%20and%20back%20again.pdf?ou=169904)
Roberts, Les. “Welcome to Dreamland: From place to non-place and back again in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Last Resort.” New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film 1, no. 2 (2002): 78-90.
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Points for discussion in class:
What do you think is the core message/purpose of this film?
Discuss two or three scenes that you find most powerful or memorable in the film. Why do you feel this way?
What do you make of the characters in the film and what do you find relatable about them?
What is the aesthetic styles used in the film? discuss lighting, color, tonalities, sound design, camera work, editing and more.
What does this film teach you about the migrant’s life or challenges?
