Korean Cinema Now (and Then)

Okay, so you think your wife is having an affair. What do you do? In Driving with My Wife’s Lover/Aneeui aeineul mannada, stamp maker Tae-han, not usually known as bold or brassy, decides he’s going to confront his rival. After tucking some sharp tools into his bag, Tae-han leaves the sleepy little seaside village where he lives and goes off to find his wife’s lover, Joon-sik, a cab driver in Seoul.

He locates the suspected Casanova and hires him to drive him back home, planning to use the time in the cab to ferret out the truth from the unsuspecting man (and maybe use some of those sharp tools he brought along). But Joon-sik turns out to be a nice guy, and Tae-han finds himself drawn to the happy-go-lucky man who says, “There’s no such thing as adultery, only love.” What should be a dramatic showdown between the two men is repeatedly delayed by comic pit stops and side trips (including a curious scene of watermelons rolling across the road).

Driving with My Wife’s Lover is part of the Korean Cinema Now (and Then) film series. Screenings continue through June 15 with Woman on the Beach, The King and the Clown, If You Were Me, Our School, A Flower in Hell and The Marines Who Never Returned. Today’s screening is at 7 p.m. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet. For tickets and a complete schedule, call 713-639-7515 or visit www.mfah.org/films.
Sat., May 31, 7 p.m., 2008