While not as restrictive and masochistic as the Dogme 95 manifesto, 'The Duel Project' between directors Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi was a fun, oddly Meta exercise in filmmaking that inevitably fostered creativity. The rules of the competition (allegedly decided upon during a night of drinking together) forced the two filmmakers to film an entire picture about a duel within one week with a low budget, one principal setting and only two on-screen characters.
With 2LDK, viewers get a wildly entertaining film about two fledgling actress roommates vying for the same part in a feature film. The girls battle over boyfriends, house responsibilities and the respect of their friends in the confines of this one home, while they wait for that magical phone call.
Rather than suffer from the restrictions, the script really blossoms with a precise and focused plot that gives its characters the proper amount of exposition and motivation, while committing to the simple, relatable premise of living with an irritating roommate and beating them to death when your vexation reaches its limits.
The first half milks that set-up for darkly comedic moments as the two girls slowly reveal their growing distaste for the other’s presence in seething interior monologues while speaking aloud only sweet, polite, subtly passive-aggressive remarks. The hate slowly rises to a climactic duel, and Tsutsumi manages to sell the utter brutality and over-the-top action as the gorgeous apartment is reduced to piles of glass and bloodstained floors. Two dainty, female actresses withstand ridiculous amounts of pain from getting thrown into the wall to being hit across the head with metal toilet covers and electrocuted, all because of a petty feud that slowly escalates.
The film mainly suffers from a certain lack of charisma from the actresses that renders it difficult to choose a favorite in the fight. Granted, Eiko Kioke makes a strong transformation from her real-life model roots to a dowdier, country girl character in this film, but whether it is the script or the actors, something about these characters doesn’t quite stick.
The fight is still an amusing time because of its sheer absurdity, but when a film focuses on two people competing for the same thing, the viewer should at least care for one of them. There’s a clear difference between Tsutsumi’s work and Ryu Seung-wan’s Crying Fist, which handles that task marvelously (albeit without the Duel Project restrictions) with two endearing characters.
Still, 2LDK is a fresh piece of filmmaking and a fun, riotous time in any case. Just expect to care more about the results from the real-life filmmaking duel between the two directors than anything going on within the film itself.
Reviewed by Tarun
