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IN BETWEEN DAYS
Directed by: So Yong Kim.
Produced by: Bradley Rust Gray.
Written by: Kim & Gray.
Director of Photography: Sarah Levy.
Edited by: Kim.
Released by: Kino International.
Language: English & Korean with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: USA/Canada. 82 min. Not Rated.
With: Jiseon Kim, Taegu Andy Kang, Bokja Kim & Gina Kim.

Recent South Korean immigrant Aimie (Jiseon Kim) walks through her unnamed North American city (filmed in Toronto) like a tourist. Her mute and burgeoning interactions with a foreign world, both from the perspective of a newcomer and a teenager, drive this beautiful, slow film. While her mother adapts with speed, Aimie is left to bridge the distance between herself and her new world all on her own. When she meets Tran (Taegu Andy Kang), she emerges from her isolated girlhood bit by bit. Also Korean, he has been here longer, easily maneuvers through social situations, and smokes pot.

Aimie and Tran play all the familiar teenage games of interest, disinterest, and attraction. Aimie drops an English class to use the refunded money to buy him a bracelet. Tran casually asks her for a hand job and later, in front of Aimie, hits on an Americanized Korean immigrant, Michelle (Gina Kim). The screenplay, scant and quiet though it is, easily gives the impression that Tran is more interested in Aimie than he lets on and that Aimie is less interested in him than she is in feeling connected to some one.

What makes In Between Days so original is an intangible quality, which communicates a very specific, sometimes painful experience. Aimie’s age, her recent arrival, and her first sexual and romantic explorations are all explored in tandem in a way that few films have succeeded. (2003’s melodramatic Better Luck Tomorrow certainly didn’t.)

Jiseon Kim was discovered by writer/director So Yong Kim when she was working in a Korean cafe in New Jersey – all the actors are non-professionals. Casting like this is truly bold considering how so much of the film relies on silence, glances, and tiny physical gestures. Jiseon Kim plays her part to the hilt, bringing to mind a young Sarah Polley, quietly expressive. Zachary Jones
July 6, 2007