Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

2LDK Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 28, 2022

One of the interesting after effects of the general writing genius that informed so much of The Twilight Zone is that audiences were educated, either subliminally or indeed consciously in some cases, in what might be termed "karmic twist" denouements. Now, this kind of twist is manifestly different from what might be termed an "M. Night Shyamalan twist". Shyamalan likes to toy with the audience's perceptions of what they think is going on, only to have the veritable rug pulled out from under them (if a rug can be pulled out from under eyes and/or brains, that is). "Karmic twists" on the other hand don't rely on any "bait and switch" tactics, and instead generate their surprise from a certain kind of cosmic comeuppance delivered by the universe or whomever is in charge of it. But because The Twilight Zone in particular was so adroit at repeatedly offering this kind of plot device, productions following in the wake of the legendary Rod Serling series might have a harder time getting to the veritable "punch line", and when that line finally occurs, it simply may not land with a ton of force as a result. Case in point: 2LDK, an intermittently engaging Japanese film from circa 2002 - 2003 (supplements suggest there was a really long production period due to some illnesses).

Now if we were to posit 2LDK (more in a moment about what this odd sounding title refers to) as an episode from The Twilight Zone, let's see if any Serling (or other writers associated with the series) fans can come up with an "appropriate" ending. Two actresses share a small apartment with two bedrooms, a dining room and a kitchen, hence the acronym of the title, which may bring to some Broadway trivia lover's mind the old comedy 6 Rms Riv Vu. After an intermittent amount of expository dialogue, it turns out both have auditioned for a plum role, and the production has narrowed the potential casting down to both of them. There's also a bit of a ménage à trois alluded to, though the film is resolutely a "two hander", with only a pair of actresses (in more than one way) on screen. An evening of mayhem then begins occurring after around the half hour mark, with the two becoming increasingly violent with each other, in plot dynamics that reminded me quite a bit of Catfight*, although without that film's often kind of snarky comic sensibility.

Suffice it to say that the final shot of the film is also reminiscent (again in more ways than one) of another movie detailing a fractious relationship, namely The War of the Roses. So, armed with that much of a plot summary and a couple of (hopefully) salient cinematic referents, and with the added information that as a bloody, chaotic mess is depicted in the film's closing moments, the phone rings with a message from the production office, can you guess the "surprise"? It's gotta be only one of two possible options (at least within the context of karmic comeuppance), neither of which will be spoiled here, but both of which can probably be figured out with a minimum of brain activity.

Having just watched this year's Academy Awards broadcast, for better or worse, I might suggest that it's now completely obvious to most of us how "artistic" temperaments can erupt in bursts of anger, and that's probably the most viscerally compelling aspect of this story. There are some smart differentiations offered between Lana (Maho Nonami) and Kimi (Eiko Koike), but really the "McGuffin" of what the women think is a "limited resource" (i.e., the part they both want) is merely a foundation for a series of knock down, drag out fights that suggest the Id of an "artiste" may at least occasionally override Ego, an aspect that is typically a common euphemism for actors' personal sensibilities.

*Note: The link points to a UK release from Arrow, since that is the one I personally reviewed. It looks like there is also a Region A release for those who want to check out the film, which is undeniably wacky (and whacky), but which I found to be kind of weirdly hilarious.

2LDK Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

2LDK is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Unearthed Films and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.80:1. There's unfortunately no technical information included on the cover of this release, and the IMDb is also unhelpful, but I'd love to know whether this was shot on Super 16 or not. I'm assuming so based on the rather chunky grain field and kind of fuzzy overall appearance, but if anyone can point me to authoritative data either confirming 16mm or 35mm, I'll happily update things. The result is a somewhat rough looking presentation quite a bit of the time, though it is appealingly organic. Grain can be gritty and yellow, especially in the darker scenes. Detail levels are generally good and some close-ups offer nice fine detail levels. The palette looked just a tad faded to me, with a slightly bluish tint which can perhaps be made out in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. There are a couple of oddities, including a brief moment early on that looks anamorphically squeezed to me for some reason (see screenshot 18), and other moments that seem artificially brightened (see screenshot 19). There's also recurrent but relatively minor age related wear and tear on display, including quite a bit of white speckling.

2LDK Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

2LDK features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks in the original Japanese. There are some kind of interesting ambience changes (which I'm frankly not sure were intentional) that are arguably more noticeable in the 5.1 track, including the very opening voicover, which seems to be going back and forth in a voicemail of some kind (again, I'm not entirely sure this was intentional). Some of the sound effects once the violence erupts are also more spaciously presented in the surround track. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

2LDK Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of 2LDK (SD; 18:12) is a fun behind the scenes piece which describes how the film was shot chronologically and which offers a lot of candid footage. Subtitled in English.


• Duel Production Briefing (HD; 9:49) is from 2002 and seems to be some kind of Q & A or press conference. Subtitled in English.


• Video Message for Theatre Audience (HD; 5:04) features director Yukihiko Tsutsumi and stars Maho Nonami and Eiko Koike, and describes some of the production delays caused by a series of illnesses, which kind of interestingly (given current day events) are mentioned as "flu like". Subtitled in English.


• Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival Interviews (HD; 4:35) are from October 30, 2002 and once again feature Yukihiko Tsutsumi, Maho Nonami and Eiko Koike . Subtitled in English.


• Premiere Screening Interviews (HD; 2:25) stem from October 3, 2003 and again features Yukihiko Tsutsumi, Maho Nonami and Eiko Koike. Subtitled in English.


• Screening at Kudan Kaikan Interviews (HD; 3:04) are from September 18, 2003, this time featuring only Maho Nonami and Eiko Koike. Subtitled in English.


• Photo Gallery (HD; 1:16)


• Commentary with Maho Nonami & Eiko Koike can be accessed under the Setup Menu. In Japanese with optional English subtitles.

2LDK Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The relative brevity of 2LDK keeps the pace kind of breathless, but there's actually some smart development offered in the film's first act in particular, before things start getting more and more gonzo for the rest of the running time. The film's supposed "sting" at the end may well be predicted long before it's actually doled out. Technical merits are generally okay, though video has a few hurdles to overcome. The supplements are very enjoyable, for those who may be considering making a purchase.