2LDK (2003)
Label: Unearthed Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 70 Minutes
Audio: Japanese 2.0 PCM, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Cast: Eiko Koike, Maho Nonami
In 2LDK (2003) we find a two young, struggling actresses sharing an apartment; we have small town girl making a go from it in the big-city Kimi (Eiko Koike) and big-city fashion plate Lana (Maho Nonami, Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge). It's a small-ish Tokyo apartment (2 bedroom, living room, dining room, and kitchen, hence the titular abbreviation), and we detect from the get-go via conversations and inner-monologies that they have the typical close-quarter flat-mate disagreements (Did you drink my Agave water?). Things heat up when they come to realize that not only are they competing for the same movie role but they're after the same man - that's just too much sharing for any young woman to bare!
At first they carry on normally, their conversation becoming more personal and pointed throughout the night, eventually this turns to full-on arguing and mutual annoyance, as they play loud music, scream, break things and go nuts with the condiments. Things escalate even further physical fights, sword play, power tool battles, chemical attacks, downing and electrocution. It's a darkly humored battle royale inside of the small apartment with a look small amount of bloodshed with some seriously fucked-up acts of violence that these formerly quite lovely women unleash upon each another. At just 70-minutes long this sucker flies by without any dead space or lulls in the tension, it's well executed in a single locations, and the two actresses are fantastic and fully committed to their roles, scarily so.
Audio/Video: The film is presented in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1), I am not quite sure what the source elements were but the finer can be a bit fuzzy with some chunky looking looking grain, it's a tad dark in spots, but overall I found it quite serviceable, even if not impressive. Audio comes by way of Japanese 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround, the surround offers some pleasing spacing and apartment acoustic moments, both are clean and well-balanced.
The main extras are an Audio Commentary with Maho Nonami & Eiko Koike and an 18-minute Making Of 2LDK featurette with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage featuring set-up and flubbed line readings, it really highlights the fast and furious nature of the shoot and how claustrophobic it was. The rest of the extras come by way of a 5-min Video Message For Theater Audience for one of the screenings, and about 19-min of interview from various screenings of the film with the director and the two stars. All the extras are in Japanese with subtitles. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a one-sided wrap.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Maho Nonami & Eiko Koike
- Audio Commentary with Maho Nonami & Eiko Koike
- Making Of 2LDK (18 min)
- Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival Interviews (5 min)
- Premiere Screening Interviews (2 min)
- Dule Productions Briefing (10 min)
- Video Message For Theater Audience (5 min)
- Screening at Kidan Kaikan Interviews (2 min)
- Photo Gallery (1 min)
2LDK (2003) is briskly paced, ultra-violent and fucked-up, and it should appeal to fans of stuff like Shallow Grave and War of the Roses wherein people who share spaces go off the deepend and commit sadistic acts of violence upon one another. This is one I'd never even heard of before, so I appreciate Unearthed for importing this for gem, it might not be goresoaked but it is a violent bloodbath with a superior pitch black vein of humor.
