In 1981, Masahiro Kobayashi came to a crossroads in his life. Should be pursue a childhood dream and become a film director? Or would he pack it all in and try to make it as a singer-songwriter?

Choosing the movie route, he packed his bags and headed to France, where he hoped to realise a boyhood ambition and train as an assistant director, preferably with François Truffaut. Nothing happened, and several months later, he was back in Japan, where he turned his hand to scriptwriting. Luckily, it turned out more successfully.

The following year he received the Kido Prize for a screenplay with the enigmatic title Yellow Monkey That Has No Name. In 1983, Kobayashi became a successful TV scriptwriter, penning many original dramas, but, strangely, he didn't actually direct for another 14 years, when he made his feature debut with Closing Time (1986), adapted from his own script, which won praise at key Japanese festivals and was singled out for praise by Wong Kar-wei and Anna Karina at the 8th Yubari International Fantastic Qdventure Film Festival.

Shot in striking black-and-white Cinemascope, his latest film is a road movie of sorts, in which two men travel together to a funeral of a mutual lover in northern Japan. One, Tatsuo (Akira Emoto) is a Yakuza, the other, Seiji (Kippei Shiina), is a cop, but despite their apparent differences, they remain close friends.

As they drive to their destination, both men reminisce about the dead woman, but after a lot of wistful nostalgia a touch of jealousy begins to creep into the conversation. And when they encounter a young couple returning from a friend's wedding, matters take a turn for the macabre, giving free rein to Kobayashi's quirky black humour. Steve Grayson