Minari

Matt Feury

Editor, Harry Yoon ACE

Minari editor, Harry Yoon ACE joins The Rough Cut to tell us about cutting this amazing movie from Korean American writer and director, Lee Isaac Chung.

Minari is a semi-autobiographical take on Chung’s upbringing and tells the story a family of South Korean immigrants who try to make it in rural America during the 1980s.  Jacob Yi, the father played by Steven Yeun, dreams of a better life for himself and his family than just working as a chicken sexer, so he moves his wife and two young children from California to Arkansas to make that dream a reality.  As you would imagine, they face a few challenges following that dream and those challenges and how the Yi family meets them, is what makes the film so captivating.  On top of that, the performances across the board are just fantastic.

Minari had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, winning both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award.  Not only that It was named one of the ten best films of 2020 by the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review.  Not too shabby.

We first caught up with Harry when he was working alongside editor Tom Cross on the Damien Chazelle film, First Man.  It was obvious then that Harry was someone to watch and there were big moments ahead for him.  Minari is, without question, a big moment for Harry.

Editing Minari

In our discussion with Minari editor, Harry Yoon ACE we talk about:

  • Getting ready for Sundance and the experience of having a hit film there
  • Editing a film largely spoken in Korean, but working with a script written in English
  • His working relationship with writer/director Lee Isaac Chung
  • Operating under a tight budget but on a film you believe in
  • The freedom great performances give you to stay with wide shots

The Credits

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