Chekhov's principle about how you can't introduce a gun in the first act of a story without using it later on might also apply to Toru (Nijiro Murakami).
When the university student impulsively snatches a pistol from a dead body he finds by a riverside in Tokyo, the unfulfilled potential of his new acquisition starts to nag at him. Why have a gun, after all, if you're not going to shoot it?
"The Gun" is adapted from the 2002 debut by novelist Fuminori Nakamura, but its story will feel familiar to anyone who has read "Crime and Punishment" or the works of Albert Camus and Kobo Abe. While Masaharu Take's film doesn't belong in such exalted company, it's an engrossing portrait of obsession, with a rough, experimental feel that complements, rather than distracts from, the story.