2LDK Review

Movie: 2LDK
By: Orlok666
Date: May 29, 2012

There can be only one

"2LDK" is a part of the ‘Duel project’ by directors Tsutsumi and Ryuhei Kitamura ("Versus"), in which they were challenged by producer Shinya Kawai to make a film each within a week to make a film in which 2 persons are duelling each other in one single setting. With Kitamura making the samurai film "Aragami" Tsutsumi went along making "2LDK", about two actresses who aspire the same role in a movie. And are willing to do everything to get rid of their competitor.

A simple plot

The basis of the film plot is as basic as it gets: two aspiring actresses Nozomi and Rana belong to the same agency and both auditioned for the same role in the film "Yakuza Wives". The both share the same apartment (the titular 2LDK which is shorthand for 2 bedrooms and a combined living-room, dining-room and kitchen area) awaiting the call of who gets the part.

Opposites attack

Eiko Koike plays Nozomi is a country girl who has come to Tokyo with big dreams of becoming an actress. She is shy and soft spoken compared to her roommate and competitor Rana (played by Maho Nonami) who is outspoken, posh and haughty. When the tension grows in anticipation of the call that will determine their future the frustrations between the women grow, reaching new heights. Petty remarks get blown out of proportion, personal items get labelled to prevent it being used by the other. This eventually escalates into extreme violence where each woman tries to eliminate the other.

Familiar

I would say everybody recognizes the parts when you"re stuck (or living) with someone for a longer time. At first you seem to get along fine but then you start to notice some things about the other that annoys you and maybe even take some actions for granted. But then arguments start and you start by setting parameters. When the line is crossed tension builds and at a sudden point you feel you could hurt the other. Well, I hope not as bad as Nozomi and Rana…

Short, sweet and sick

Running just 70 minutes this film has about the perfect length even while some parts feel a little slow. Arguments start about finding hairs in the bathroom and end up in throwing knives at each other, trying to electrocute your roommate and go for the chainsaw. "2LDK" gets quite visceral after the initial part where the girls start to get more and more annoyed. Director Tsutsumi picked a situation that most people are familiar with and blew it up to violent proportions and making it a duel of life and death. It is well thought through and quite an accomplishment to create a film like this within a week.

DVD REVIEW

Image quality

The overall quality is fine and the film transfer is well done.

Sound

No remarks on the sound, the quality is good.

Extras

The Mad Monkey release has Dutch and French subtitles. The extra’s consist of trailers of the two films of the Duel Project: "2LDK" and "Aragami". Next to that you get a 18 minute making of in which mostly the actresses are being followed during the one week process. The making of is fine and might be slightly funny due the solemn voice-over making it feel sometimes you’re watching a Japanese tv-show. It’s funny and quite different than the normal promotional making of you’d find on dvd’s. You"ll find a 23 minute (German / Japanese but subtitled) interview with director Yukihiko Tsutsumi on the disc and there is a video message on it as well.

Overall

The film isn’t that long but it’s a good film accompanied with some nice extra’s - most notably the making of and the interview with the director. No simple, promotional featurettes luckily. Mad Monkey released "2LDK" in a box along with more over-the-top films as "Machine Girl" and "Chanbara Beauty" so that already makes it definitely worth to buy.

Filmfreak