[2021 Academy] Breaking Away from the 'Typical Woman,' Unique Path Leads to Top Honor...

Youn Yuh-jung of 'Minari' Holds Oscar Best Supporting Actress Trophy
"Typical grandmother, typical mother. I don't want to act like that"
Life and Acting Distanced from Conventions, Active Career... Changing Korean Society's View on Actresses

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Sunja (Youn Yuh-jung) is completely absorbed in a pro wrestling broadcast. David (Alan Kim) does not like his grandmother. "Grandma doesn't seem like a real grandma." "What does a grandma have to be like?" "She bakes cookies, doesn't say bad words, and doesn't wear men's underwear..." Sunja brushes it off with a shy smile. "Come here. Come here. Oh my, pretty boy (my pretty kid). Pretty boy."

The Hollywood of America was captivated by this not-so-typical grandmother. They all agreed she was lovable even before handing over the Oscar trophy. Longing for the 'grandma smell' she avoided in childhood... The grandmother is director Lee Isaac Chung's grandmother. She lost her husband in the Korean War and raised her daughter alone. In faint green memories, there was minari. Among the Korean vegetables her grandmother grew, it thrived the best. It became a hope for the family who went through hardships like a farm fire. Director Chung believed it was thanks to the love imbued by his grandmother.

Youn Yuh-jung did not recreate the grandmother exactly as director Chung remembered. She interpreted and expressed her in her own way. Behind her sharp tone and playful face, she radiated a caring and warm energy. This is the 'Youn Yuh-jung style' acting already shown in roles like Gye-chun in Gye-chun Granny (2016), Joo In-sook in Lucky Chan-sil (2017), and Sunja in Beasts Clawing at Straws (2018). It gave fresh persuasiveness to international audiences and pointed to pure love. Director Chung said, "At first, she makes the children uncomfortable with harsh words, but in the end, she makes them feel love and like her with honest and straightforward roles."

Youn Yuh-jung's unique acting is varied through dissonance. It instantly lightens the cold atmosphere created by the quarrel between son-in-law Jacob (Steven Yeun) and daughter Monica (Han Ye-ri), while also intensifying conflicts arising from cultural differences, creating tension. In the film, minari symbolizes tenacious vitality. Sunja plants and nurtures minari by the stream, revealing the film's thematic consciousness. Youn Yuh-jung simultaneously reveals strange compassion and transcendental energy. In front of the warehouse burned down by fire, with a face seeming to wither, she draws out the family's new beginning.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This is a rare expression among most middle-aged actresses. While fellow actresses settled for ordinary mother roles, she steadfastly maintained ever-changing characters like a lone wolf. Examples include Hong Byung-han, the mother-in-law who discovers sex late in life in Too Young to Die (2003), Byeong-sik, the dominant housemaid watching over the new nanny in The Housemaid (2010), and So-young, the 'Bacchus grandma' barely making a living by taking care of the elderly in The Bacchus Lady (2016). In The Taste of Money (2012), where she played Baek Geum-ok, the mistress of a chaebol family, she stretches her arms and yawns the morning after having an affair with her young secretary Joo Young-jak (Kim Kang-woo). "Ah, refreshing."

Youn Yuh-jung said, "Typical grandma, typical mom. I don't want to act like that. It's my lifelong goal." Her life and acting, distanced from conventions, led to vigorous activities crossing commercial films, dramas, and independent films. Minari is also within that scope. It provides the embracing power and solid foundation for a story anyone can fall into, regardless of culture, ethnicity, or nationality. Her clear footprints have long transformed Korean society's view of actresses. The Oscar trophy is a fitting reward for that.