Ping-Pong (2002)

I had no idea what this Japanese film would be like and could not have foreseen that it would use table tennis as a metaphor for life.  Sort of.  It's actually a very slim story about childhood friends, now in their late teens, playing competitive ping-pong for their schools.  Three of them treat the sport as a do-or-die endeavour, but the nicest one called Smile (because he never does) is also the most talented -- however he just doesn't care enough to keep a competitive edge.  Some of the photography is almost surreal in capturing the excitement of the game and the joy of the combat, but the moral is clear -- nice guys don't win.