The Woodsman and the Rain

When a film crew arrives in a small town in rural Japan, Katsu, a recently bereaved lumberjack, is initially unimpressed. But, after he is drafted by the assistant director first as a local guide and then as a reluctant zombie, he is bitten by the filming bug. He forms an unlikely friendship with the film's painfully young and chronically shy director (Shun Oguri), who, when asked what his film is about, replies: "It's about zombies swarming and doing stuff."

The Woodsman and the Rain perfectly captures the way in which film crews gradually take over an area and the lives of its inhabitants one "small favour" at a time. The great Koji Yakusho brings a winning lightness to his performance as the taciturn Katsu. Director Shuichi Okita paints an affectionate and witty portrait of the business of exploitation film-making, framing his shots with a telling and understated elegance, and keeping the pace gentle enough for even the slowest-moving zombie.