"Model Minority" could be called a coming-of-age story in which everything goes wrong. The protagonist, Kayla Tanaka, is an exceptional student and a promising artist. She even has a special opportunity in an upcoming summer artist's workshop. Then, her world begins to fall apart. The decline happens so fast that the film unfolds much like a Greek tragedy.
The film goes to great lengths to demonstrate the damaging impact of Kayla's family on her. The father is a drinker, and the mother is a junkie. On top of the daily humiliations, the parents are getting a divorce. Kayla even takes on the responsibility of procuring drugs at the insistence of her mother.
It is at this point that Kayla becomes involved with a young drug dealer. The gifts that he lavishes, as well as the attention he pays her, must be like a drug to Kayla. She lets her studies slide and gets involved more completely with the drug lord. When he is arrested, he sells her out, and she faces a potentially long period in juvenile detention.
There was a gritty realism to the film with great footage of Los Angeles. There was also effective use of close-ups and camera angles. Stylistically, it was almost as if the narrative was unfolding as a documentary.
A turning point in the film occurs with the court appearance of Kayla's grandmother, who was an inmate in one of the California internment camps for Japanese American citizens during World War II. The grandmother, Reiko Tanaka, is the most interesting character in the film, a stoic figure who steadfastly believes in her granddaughter.
It was the grandmother's testimony that convinced the judge to release Kayla to her custody. It was also the grandmother's words of wisdom that now motivate Kayla to persevere and endure. In the closing moments, the film offers a ray of hope for a young artist who is turning the page to write a new chapter of her life.
The film goes to great lengths to demonstrate the damaging impact of Kayla's family on her. The father is a drinker, and the mother is a junkie. On top of the daily humiliations, the parents are getting a divorce. Kayla even takes on the responsibility of procuring drugs at the insistence of her mother.
It is at this point that Kayla becomes involved with a young drug dealer. The gifts that he lavishes, as well as the attention he pays her, must be like a drug to Kayla. She lets her studies slide and gets involved more completely with the drug lord. When he is arrested, he sells her out, and she faces a potentially long period in juvenile detention.
There was a gritty realism to the film with great footage of Los Angeles. There was also effective use of close-ups and camera angles. Stylistically, it was almost as if the narrative was unfolding as a documentary.
A turning point in the film occurs with the court appearance of Kayla's grandmother, who was an inmate in one of the California internment camps for Japanese American citizens during World War II. The grandmother, Reiko Tanaka, is the most interesting character in the film, a stoic figure who steadfastly believes in her granddaughter.
It was the grandmother's testimony that convinced the judge to release Kayla to her custody. It was also the grandmother's words of wisdom that now motivate Kayla to persevere and endure. In the closing moments, the film offers a ray of hope for a young artist who is turning the page to write a new chapter of her life.