Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

2LDK (which stands for "two bedrooms, living room, dining room, and kitchen"—an abbreviation used in rental property advertisements) is director Yukihiko Tsutsumi's entry in his cinematic "duel" with fellow filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura (whose entry was Aragami). The contest, conceived after a night of drinking, stipulates that each director would make a film using two or three characters, set in one location, be filmed in seven days, and involve a fight to the death. Kitamura's entry features a samurai and an immortal demon battling it out, while Tsutsumi's goes for a much more modern approach. If nothing else, the "duel" shows how two people can take a similar situation and come up with radically different concepts to resolve it.

Nozomi (Eiko Koike) and Lana (Maho Nonami) are two aspiring actresses sharing a large apartment in Tokyo. Their relationship is civil, despite the fact that they're radically different women who don't really like each other all that much. Lana thinks Nozomi is a country bumpkin and is secretly envious of her large chest while Nozomi thinks Lana is nothing more than a gold-digging prostitute who'd use the casting couch to her own benefit. Things reach critical mass when both women find themselves competing not only for the same man (an unseen character who works for the studio) but also the lead role in an upcoming film production. The tension, simmering just beneath the surface for most of the first two acts, reaches a boiling point at the climax when the two young ingénues engage in battle royale of epic proportions.

One of the most common complaints leveled at 2LDK is that it's a somewhat schizophrenic film—it starts out like a farcical comedy, then morphs into a violent action movie that borders on being exploitation at the climax. Add in some backstory about Lana and why she keeps seeing a dead mother and child in a bathtub full of blood and things only get that much more bizarre. However, the film really isn't all that schizophrenic in the end. Tsutsumi starts out by having his characters express their dislike for each other through interior dialogue voiced over scenes in the apartment—then these observations are vocalized in the final act. It's not a change of direction—it's more of a natural progression instead. Things that were internalized in the first act are externalized at the climax.

Despite being a black comedy, the film is unrepentantly violent. When Lana and Nozomi finally get down to business it demonstrates that men may be violent creatures, but we don't have a thing on the women. The violence starts out physical and soon escalates to involving knives, intentional electrocution, a chainsaw, and more. These two women beat the hell out of each other in some of the most brutal ways imaginable, yet the whole thing never loses its dark comedy tone. It's an impressive balancing act pulled off by both director Tsutsumi and actresses Eiko Koike and Naho Nonami. Ideally, the audience should root for both characters equally (at least in theory), but I found that Nozomi seemed to be the more sympathetic of the two for some reason. It would be interesting to see if anyone else found Lana to be more likeable and why.

Running a brisk 70-minutes, the film doesn't have time to wear out its welcome. Tsutsumi seems to know just how much time he needs to tell his story and spends not a second more of the audience's time. I can only wish that more filmmakers would be so aware—leaving the screen with the audience wanting more is always preferable to overstaying your welcome.

As far as who "won" this cinematic contest, I can't really say. I like both films a lot, but for different reasons. Kitamura's entry is a slick-looking fantasy piece that's at once both action oriented and philosophical. Tsutsumi's entry is the funnier and more light-hearted of the two. Because of this, the duel is mostly a draw. While the gimmick that led to the creation of these two films might seem almost hokey in this day and age, there's really no denying that the two films that were born in the process are well worth seeing.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening