American Dreamers

2/26/2021

The American Dream has been a staple of art and literature since the country’s founding. The subject has inspired some of the greatest American works of art from The Great Gatsby to There Will be Blood. Two new entries in the canon are Minari and Nomadland.

Minari, directed by Korean-American Lee Isaac Chung, follows the travails of Korean immigrant family in the 1970s as they try to stake their claim on America’s promise. Nomadland, by Chinese director Chloé Zhao, tells the story of an American woman who is kind-of forced, but really chooses, to spend her time wondering America with a bunch of people for whom the Dream has failed.

Zhao’s film has the heat, storming into awards season with all but a couple of critics falling over themselves to heap praise on a work that is dishonest at its core. Having gained access to film within Amazon’s distribution facility, Zhao presents it as a great place to work. Is this because she doesn’t understand? Or is it because Amazon is one of the main streaming venues for films these days? Either way, ball dropped. Worse, though, is that Frances McDormand is literally a tourist among real drifters, and once you realize this, it becomes impossible to suspend disbelief.

Chung’s movie, on the other hand, may be populated by actors, but viewers end it with a little more understanding of the real immigrant’s plight.

Here is a wonderful article that looks at the landscapes of both films.