Adrift in Tokyo

Fumiya is in his eighth year of a law degree with more than eight hundred thousand yen of debt. Fukuhara, who has come to collect it, makes him an odd offer: he will write off the debt and add a million yen, on one condition, that they walk across Tokyo together. Where they are going is not stated. Fumiya accepts, and the two men walk for days. Satoshi Miki adapts a novel by Yoshinaga Fujita. The narrative rests not on plot but on the walk: the neighbourhoods change, strange people appear, and a conversation slowly forms between them. Why Fukuhara wanted this walk emerges toward the end, and when it does it changes the film's register. Joe Odagiri plays Fumiya and Tomokazu Miura plays Fukuhara, winning best supporting actor at the 2007 Kinema Junpo awards for the role. Who it's for: Viewers who like Japanese deadpan comedy, walking films, and two-hander narratives. Who it's not for: Almost nothing happens and the humour is very dry. Inert if you want narrative momentum.