Gina Kim is mastering the art of baring one's soul in front of the camera. In her documentaryGina Kim's Video Diary, she demonstrated the ability to capture the subtle depths of emotion. These talents are echoed in Kim's debut narrative feature Invisible Light, where lingering, meticulously framed shots expose the turbulent and varying emotions of inner struggle and psychological extremes. Choi Yoon Sun (as Gah-in) and Lee Sun Jin (Do-hee) give daring performances as two US-based Korean women faced with despair, and struggling to reclaim their mental strength.
Gah-in is having an affair with Do-hee's husband. Distressed by her illicit affair, she retreats into her house, disconnects the phone and loses herself in a self-hating routine of starving and binging. At the same time, Do-hee learns that she is pregnant with another man's child, leaves her husband and returns to Korea for the first time in thirteen years.
Alone throughout much of the film, both women are stripped naked-both physically and psychically-as each are viewed in intensely private moments. Armed with a patient camera, Kim provides an unflinching gaze into two women's darkest hours, and memorably discovers the precarious balance between resilience and fragility. Achingly beautiful, Invisible Light offers an important new voice to Asian American cinema.
—Innbo Shim, (from 2004 catalog)