2LDK

This was a well acted, nicely paced story of two opposite roommates, competing for the same part in a movie. The story develops as we hear their thoughts and discover how much they hate each other, despite their politeness to each other. Tensions rise as the poorer, more homely, neat-freak confronts the wealthier, more sexually-experienced, relaxed princess about breaking house "rules." Attacks start out with mind games, to implied verbal slights, to overt insults, and then to ever-escalating physical assaults. This film is wild. It's funny in how much they hate each other, and how far they go, non-stop. If you can't find humor in violence, don't bother watching this. While this film goes deeply into mental, emotional, social conflict-- it is a fight movie. So don't expect Shakespeare! Also not a complex film: only two adept actresses in the same condo the whole movie. This simplicity made me like the film more. Unique. The only thing I could compare this to would be an American film called "Tape" which, while not violent, only involved 3 actors (Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and ?) in one hotel room, brooding over mental-psychological conflicts.

Don't pay attention to this being billed as horror on here, it's what in the 60s would have been understood as Japanese New Wave, scathing assault on this world rather than dread of some beyond. It's compact, clocking at barely an hour, with bite to spare.

Two roommate actresses aspiring for the same role in a film and living in the same house grow increasingly unhinged over the course of one night, you can imagine this as a continuation of what Koji Wakamatsu used to do in b/w once upon a time, Tsukamoto later.

At first polite enough, propping the social facade it aims to perversely tear down, but gradually the girls turn suspicious and catty, hang up on dreams of success society has promised, a society steeped in consumerism and image; we see one girl's room lined with trophies and photos from beauty pageants, the other fusses about her collagen drink and she's a 20 year old girl.

All the accoutrements that society has said if we surround ourselves with will amount to a comfortable life here are hurled at each other, used as weapons to degrade and inflict pain with, from a ketchup bottle to a hairdryer. Modern life may be glanced in a bleak way, with a certain amusement at its failure to soothe, but I would rather rest with the underlying point that can be glimpsed here; that the flames of dissatisfaction singe from the inside, it's the constant desire, vexation, reaction to things not being what we wanted them to be. In this state of mind, even much coveted romance is denied by a girl more keen to consume her being with the meaningless spat.

So this is about the spirited meaninglessness of itself, about so much energy, dynamism and spontaneous creativity the two girls are able to muster to hurt each other, two actresses trying to outperform each other, funneled into performance that is hollow except with rage, with no more a struggle with ideals to absorb the rage as in the 60s. No Wave in place of New.

In the end even a moment of sweet intimacy, one girl yearning to be kissed for the first time, is reduced to only another performance trick in their play. Earlier a piano that one of the girls could be play beautifully had been petulantly bashed by her.

For some reason I was led to believe this was to be a comedy. Upon further research after seeing the movie, I could not find any evidence that it is a comedy, but I'm sure I got that idea from somewhere. Maybe it's considered a dark comedy, considering I don't usually find them funny, but not necessarily bad. Another though was maybe I just did not get the Japanese comedy. I honestly thought this was a drama with a tiny bit of horror on the side.

Anyhow, 2LDK starts off with sort of a slow burn effect, meaning it took some time to establish a feud between the two actresses, who happen to be roommates for the night and both going for the same part in a movie called Yakuza Wives. Every little thing annoys the other, such as slurping their soup and borrowing shampoo without asking, which continuously gains intensity through every scene.

When the "fight to the death" finally happens, it is extremely outrageous and over the top. Everything is used from chainsaws, ice picks, toilet bowl parts, bathtubs along with electric appliances, etc. The end could be considered somewhat comedic, although predictable. Not many movies aren't predictable anymore.

The movie was not bad. In fact, I'd recommend it if you have nothing to do. Plus, I liked how the entire movie only had the two women in it. As stated earlier, I just misunderstood what I was about to see. After reading up on it and realized the "contest" between the two directors, it has stirred my curiosity to see the other movie,which I believe is called Aragami. Very interesting. 6/10

2LDK is an exceptional short film that combines the prodigious talents of two little-known actresses (Maho Nonami and Eiko Koike) with that of a marvelous director (Yukihiko Tsutsumi) in what turns out to be a surprisingly powerful, sometimes hilarious, and always provocative thriller.

I found the first half of the film, in which there is a lot of one-on-one conversation between the two women--combined fluidly with each woman's private thoughts--to be an absolute riot to watch. 2LDK offers marvelous insight into human nature and even the Japanese culture, reminding one that regardless of social conventions few people say what they -really- mean. Nonami and Koike both play their parts extremely well and with complete credibility. Amazingly, the film was shot in only a week's time despite the fact both women developed high fevers during the filming but carried on during the most physically demanding scenes without a break. I also found it fascinating to hear both actresses express having felt a certain amount of real-life animosity and antagonism towards one another during the making of the film. Great stuff.

In the second half of the film things become much darker as niceties are set aside and the two women let their true feelings show. Small disagreements become egregious offenses and events escalate rapidly to a remarkable, if not entirely unpredictable, ending. The 'weapons' the two use against each other are for the most part household items and as such make the battle even more engaging and intense.

I don't believe there is anyone who can't appreciate--or even completely relate with--the feelings both expressed and provoked in 2LDK; if you've ever had to live with someone you didn't much care for but tolerated in the name of keeping the peace--all the while letting your retributive fantasies 'evolve' from time to time--this film is guaranteed to produce plenty of smiles.

Highly recommended.

My mouth dropping constantly throughout the movie in shock until finally I just left it hang open. Very creative and original. Unfortunately some others walked out!?

I was curious what 2LDK meant after the film: in general it is a 2 bedroom apartment with living room, dining room and kitchen in Japan. The setting of the whole film.