[ti:Oscar Contender 'Minari' Hopes to Connect with Korean-American Story] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Minari is a vegetable known as Korea's water celery or watercress. [00:07.12]It is also the name of a film nominated for a number of Academy Awards, [00:13.64]known as Oscars, on Sunday. [00:17.76]The film, produced by Christina Oh, received nominations [00:24.12]for best picture and best original score [00:28.40]from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [00:34.64]Lee Isaac Chung who wrote and directed the film [00:39.16]is nominated for best director and best original screenplay. [00:46.12]Its actors, Steven Yeun and Youn Yuh-jung, are nominated [00:52.60]for best actor and best supporting actress. [00:58.24]Lee Isaac Chung based the movie on his own family's story. [01:04.96]They moved from California to the southern state of Arkansas [01:10.72]to start a farm growing Korean vegetables in the 1980s. [01:17.96]Steven Yeun plays the father, Jacob, [01:21.44]who hopes to sell vegetables to markets and restaurants [01:25.84]with a large number of Korean American customers. [01:31.52]He wants to start a new life for his family, [01:35.00]which includes his wife, Monica, and his children Anne and David. [01:41.48]The 73-year-old Youn plays Soon-ja, [01:45.60]a grandmother who comes from Korea to live with them. [01:50.24]The movie centers on the family's struggles in rural America. [01:56.00]Jacob has trouble finding water and growing his vegetables. [02:01.04]Monica is unhappy living on a farm. [02:05.68]The children, who see themselves as Americans, [02:09.76]think of their grandmother as a stranger from a foreign country. [02:15.16]They also deal with racism [02:17.60]in a part of the U.S. where everyone else is white. [02:23.48]It is the story of a husband and a wife [02:27.32]whose life has not gone as planned. [02:30.68]It is the story of immigrants trying to fit in while keeping their own culture. [02:36.84]It is the story of a little boy and his grandmother. [02:41.40]And it is the story of an American family. [02:45.08]The Korean language, however, is the main language in the movie. [02:51.44]The Golden Globes, another movie award event, [02:55.40]gave Minari the best foreign film award. [03:00.24]But many people were unhappy [03:02.92]that it was not able to compete with other American movies. [03:08.80]It also added to a conversation that Asian-Americans, [03:13.24]especially those born in the U.S., worry [03:17.80]that white people do not think of them as American. [03:22.76]The issue became even more important [03:25.24]with news reports of violence against Asian people in the U.S. [03:30.08]and the killing of Asian-American workers at businesses [03:35.12]in the state of Georgia in early March. [03:39.76]Youn, who plays the grandmother, said she thinks life [03:46.08]must be difficult for young Asian-Americans [03:51.60]who "think they are Americans but in the eyes of Americans, [03:56.36]they don't look American." [04:00.16]She added many Asians came to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s [04:06.68]because they saw the country as a "dream land." [04:11.08]The movie is up against seven others for the best picture award. [04:16.16]They are: The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, [04:23.40]Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, [04:27.28]The Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7. [04:33.84]Even if Minari does not win one of the major awards, [04:38.44]those involved in making the movie [04:40.96]think it will make an emotional connection with everyone who sees it. [04:46.32]Speaking with the Associated Press, Chung and others [04:50.16]said anyone who has ever taken a risk or tried something new [04:55.28]will see some part of themselves in the Minari story. [05:00.96]Especially, he added, those who came to the U.S. [05:05.80]from another country to start a new life. [05:10.32]I'm Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM