>>Who was the driver? For whom was he working when he killed the professor?<<
He was one of the 3 hitmen sent by Mob Boss Kim, on the same night that Nam wanted to murder Judo Professor Kim at Snakehead Myun's (& ultimately HK Branch Chief Kim's) bidding. That's why the Chauffeur initially hesitated when one hitman landed on his car during the assassination attempt. He stumbled around for a while, then decided to go up & finish the job.
The next morning, Mob Boss Kim saw on the TV news that THREE additional 'Joseons' (ethnic Koreans from China) were unexpectedly involved in the carnage. Later, he asked Henchman Choi if the Chauffeur had hired the others, but the latter replied that he didn't know.
>>Was Kim's wife having an affair with both the professor and with the bank clerk??<<
Mob Boss Wife was two-timing only with the Judo Professor. HK Branch Chief was in cahoots with Judo Professor Wife (they were too formal to be lovers), who likely wanted revenge for her husband's infidelity.
>>Why were Myun and the taxi driver continually trying to kill each other?<<
Myun initially went to Korea to confront Mob Boss Kim, who had ordered Henchman Choi to eliminate him for being the biggest cross-border snakehead (human smuggler) in Yanbian, China (& thus could help Nam sneak out of Korea).
After they meet, the opportunistic Myun offered to eliminate Nam for payment. Mob Boss Kim agreed, so Myun contacted his Ulsan partner Snakehead Park (who had sneaked Nam into Korea). They found Snakehead Park's colleague at the Ulsan hideout (Nam had kidnapped the latter to arrange a return boat to Dalian, China), & he told them that the pickup was at Busan Pier. Cue showdown. The rivalry then switched to a different couple (& no longer against Nam)...
>>what was Myun realization, what did he find out in the scene where he call Choi to bring president Kim to talk.<<
...(I think this whole scene was edited out in the shorter international release.) In hiding after losing the car chase to Nam & involving the police, Snakehead Myun contacted Mob Boss Kim, & both parties showed up in force. Myun wanted money in exchange for vanishing from Korea, or else he would publicize their relationship. Mob Boss Kim asked for a week to make a decision (& then opted for betrayal by trying to murder the Joseons instead. In turn, Myun sought revenge & they ended up killing each other.)
>>And his wife was not murdered, but returned to China in the end, right?<<
Yes, she was depicted returning wealthy & alive. The Japanese Seafood Deliveryman had mutilated another Joseon woman, whose ashes Nam was mistakenly bringing home to China.
>>What was our guy doing at the bank at the end anyway?<<
HK Branch Chief Kim was one who enlisted the Gangnam Waiter, who recommended Snakehead Myun, who in turn hired Nam. (Separately, Mob Boss Kim ordered Henchman Choi, who recruited the Chauffeur, who in turn hired 2 Joseons.)
Also, Nam told Judo Professor Wife that he would avenge her husband. She must have told this to HK Branch Chief Kim, who responded by hiring the clumsy North Korean assassins to kidnap Nam, only to have them let Nam trace back to their employer. He then saw the two collaborators together looking at him in horror at the bank, implying they are in cahoots (but unlikely as lovers since they were so formal to each other).
>>And who the hell had rabies??<<
The rabies are an allegorical reference to the Joseons (ethnic Koreans in China), who in real life live in a poor dog-eat-dog world in Yanbian prefecture, often held in contempt by the rest of China. Nam & Snakehead Myun mentioned this when they met at the canine market. The rabid-dog theme is continually reinforced with the violence, belligerence & virulence throughout the film.
>>At the end of the film there is a flashback of her boarding the train to Korea just before Gu-nam dies. However, after Gu-nam dies and the credits roll there is one final scene (which many of you seem to have missed) of her returning to China alive and well.<<
In the original longer version of the movie, Nam also daydreamed about his spouse boarding the train a second time, i.e. just before he went to see Judo Professor Wife & pledged to avenge. So the end-credits scene was bittersweet, & which makes him carrying the wrong cremated ashes doubly poignant.
>>The wife didn't return to China. Remember her lover confessed the murder in the TV news.<<
No, the Japanese Seafood Deliveryman confessed to the TV cameras that he murdered a (different) Joseon woman. Basically, he was harboring two such refugees from China. (Perhaps more if he's a serial killer.)
>>the police case buildup amount to nothing.<<
True. The Chinese movie forums joked that their criminals are better than the Korean cops. But I think the added screen-time in the original longer version helped to advance the plot, since they were pursuing Nam from Seoul to Incheon, Hwaseong, Daejeon & Ulsan. Take 2 deleted scenes, for example:
- Abandoned at the Incheon construction site, Nam stayed overnight there & decided to flee cross-country back to Ulsan (where he had originally landed). The next morning, the police arrived (the foreman reported Nam also stole cash & clothes from the premises), found Nam's old clothes, & made a TV appeal (which Boss Kim was watching) showing a replica of the new clothes (forcing Nam to change outfits again).
- Seeing Mob Boss Kim's hoodlums arriving after the roadblock shootout, the police were intrigued with their obsession over Nam, & instinctively made calls to investigate Judo Professor's relationships further. In turn, they were alerted about "the Joseon(s)" (likely the mutilated woman, before the TV media reported the discovery).
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