Road to the Racetrack

The film which shot Jang into the premier league nudges the sex-war into the 21st century. 'R' (Moon) comes back to Korea from several years of study in France, expecting to resume his affair with fellow student 'J' (Kang). But she is now a 'different' woman, adept at abandoning him in hotel rooms every time he tries to corner her and insistent that he should go back to his working-class wife and kids. Jang raises indirection to a fine art: he maintains the sense that the film could veer off in any direction at any time, and never fully explains the title metaphor. But anyone struggling through a screwed-up relationship will recognise this as the real thing.