Product Details

• Actors: Maho Nonami, Eiko Koike, Daisuke Kizaki
• Directors: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
• Writers: Yukihiko Tsutsumi, Yuiko Miura
• Producers: Kazuki Manabe, Munehiro Umemura, Shin'ya Kawai, Susumu Nakazawa, Yûji Ishida
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Tla
• VHS Release Date: July 13, 2004
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00027JY44
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #626,297 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Sick and twisted yet disturbingly hilarious..." --Film Threat

"Dazzling movie, a wicked satire about fame and fortune masquerading as perhaps the greatest no-holds-barred, knock-down drag-out, power-tools-and-all catfight in the history of cinema." --DVD Verdict

Product Description

Two female roommates, locked in a duel to the death, is the basis for 2LDK, a vicious black comedy about competition, co-habitation, and catfights! Two struggling actresses are sharing an apartment and auditioning for the same role. Petty squabbles turn into fits of rage that involves power tools and electrocution devices! 2LDK is a twisted gem from Japan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inventive Duel Between Societal Opposites, July 14, 2004

By 

evergreen "Jerome G.V." (Cerritos, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 2LDK (DVD)

2ldk (2-bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen), directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, is one-half of the Duel films project, the other being "Versus" director Ryuhei Kitamura's "Aragami."

Clocking in at around 70 minutes, the film is about a single, life-altering night in the lives of two female roommates. Both arrive at their appartment fresh from an audition for the lead role in the big-budget film "Yakuza Wives;" the choice has been narrowed down to them two. The girls have a small dinner, some meaningless chit-chat, and go straight to bed to wait for the final decision the following morning. Or, at least, try.

You see, one is a good-natured young woman, coming from a rural setting, with a strong admiration for theatre. She works hard but is rather unlucky in love and all those other social functions. The other is a sultry vixen who's more body than talent and knows it. Carrying an elitist air and a facade of sophistication, she strives for the top by the only means she knows: manipulation. Two polar-opposites existing far too close.

With the major role on the line and the tension of a love triangle going on all the while, this night, these two people will snap. Pent-up hatred will become tangible. Minor quarrels will escalate into all-out battles. And nothing is off-limits. From beauty contest trophies to chainsaws to industrial-strength stain remover, these two will stop at nothing to get the role, the guy, and ultimately, justify their own existence to themselves.

The single-set piece that is 2ldk is, at heart, fairly simple. The plot and the characters (initially) are all really basic. The real hook of the film is the extremes to which it actually goes.
What in reality may only lead to a mild slapfest here balloons into a duel to the death. The fight scenes, thankfully, do not utilize any bullettime effects or heavy CG; there's just good old-fashioned fighting, raw, suiting the movie's faux-realistic tone well.
More impressive and interesting, however, is the transformation the two female leads undergo. The circumstances bring them to terms with their own ghosts of the past and the masks they use to conceal the pain and torment explode into the bloody conflict that unfold before the viewer's eyes. By taking this loud, gaudy approach to the violence, Tsutsumi is able to better convey to the audience the gravity of the anguish the two have truly endured.

Topped off with an almost painfully ironic ending, 2ldk is a very peculiar masterpiece. Bleeding style, concise and to the point, it is a film that can be seen as a character(s) study; a big, bloody fight; or a societal critique. But, regardless of what you take it to be, 2ldk remains, quite simply, a film to be seen.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Guilty PLeasure, May 29, 2005

By 

James M. Stafford III (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 2LDK (DVD)

I happened upon 2LDK completely by accident, and was instantly intrigued. This is an odd psychological film, starting innocently enough. But by the end, the two roommate-actresses are literally insane, trying to kill each other. This is a rather over-the-top film, both in terms of the attempted death methods as well as the very short time frame - the entire film takes place in one evening. By the end, the confrontation is somewhat reminiscent of the opening battle of Kill Bill I. This film is clearly NOT for minors, and is quite enjoyable for its odd zaniness.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two girls enter..., October 12, 2006

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 2LDK (DVD)

"2LDK" is a blast, pure and simple. There's no depth here, only a hint of a story, but the characters are developed just enough in the beginning to draw you into the insane action that follows.

The film is part of the "Duel Project," set as a challenge by a film producer to two directors, seeing which one of them could make the best film that featured only two characters, a single setting, and only a week to unfold. The second film in the Duel Project was Ryuhei Kitamura's "Aragami." The two films were shown back-to-back, then audience members were asked to vote by placing their ticket stubs in the box for either film. "2LDK" won by exactly one vote.

The word "2LDK" is Japanese short-hand for an apartment with two rooms (2) and a large dinning/kitchen space (LDK). This particular apartment is much cooler than your average 2LDK, and the director obviously had a lot of fun creating the space for the girls to battle in. In one corner we have Lana, a typical modern Japanese girl with bleached hair who lives most of her life making dates on her cell phone. She doesn't make much money, but has a rich collection of expensive brand-name items from male admirers. In the other corner is Nozomi, who is the typical shy country girl, with long, undyed black hair, a shy timid manner and only one man who she is setting her cap at. Putting these two polar opposites in a single living space is enough to make sparks, but to top it off they are both competing for the same role in an upcoming movie.

The director builds the tension between to two in a really clever way, letting it slowly bubble under the surface while both girls retain the veneer of politeness. When the explosion happens, it booms with a shocking fierceness. You know they are going to fight, because that is what the Duel Project is all about, so from there on it is only a matter of style. And Yukihiko Tsutsumi has some style to spare.

The only problem with this release is the DVD itself. There isn't much to it, and "2LDK" only runs 70 minutes which is pretty slim. If they had packaged this film with "Aragami" as a 2-disk Duel Project boxset, complete with back story and interviews with both directors as well as the producer who set the challenge, then it would have been a powerhouse release.