DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Aragami) & Yukihiko Tsutsumi (2LDK)
Starring Takao Osawa, Masaya Kato (Aragami); Maho Nonami, Eiko Koike (2LDK)
Release date Out now

“One shall stand, one shall fall…” Think the most brutal duel you’ll witness this year is between 50-foot robots? Think again. Immortal samurai and bitchy actresses make for one hell of a scrap…

Back in 2002, filmmakers Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi were given a challenge by producer Shinya Kawai: each must create a feature length movie with two principal actors battling in one setting, and it should be filmed entirely in one week. The two Japanese writer/directors more than fulfilled the brief, with Kitamura offering Aragami – a twisty samurai tale – and Tsutsumi hitting every mark with the astonishing 2LDK.

Kitamura is best known for his darkly comic, caffeine-fuelled undead actioner film Versus (2000) – a film as impressive as it is ambitious – and Aragami is just as successful, albeit it in a very different way. Sure, there is the kind of kinetic swordplay you usually only see attempted in video games like Devil May Cry, but this time around, we find ourselves in more intimate surroundings.

Most of the film plays out as a tense face-off of words, between a mysterious samurai who claims to know the truth about the local legend of the Aragami (the demon god of battle), and the man whose life he saved. The script drips with tension as the two suss each other out, and the bursts of battle are underpinned with deftly comic dialogue, even as blades quiver by each opponent’s throat.

As superb as Aragami is, it is Tsutsumi’s 2LDK (referring to a Japanese listing for an apartment: 2 bedrooms, plus Living, Dining and Kitchen areas) that just about has the edge. Again, a simple premise – two actresses, become more and more competitive until they scrap – is given an innovative and startling approach.

With both flatmates waiting to hear which one of them has scored the role they both auditioned for, we watch them do exactly what they’ve been trained to do: act. Using the effective device of rapidly switching between dialogue audible to both characters and voiceovers (so only the audience hears the inner secrets of the flatmates), you can’t help but get completely drawn into the drama.

Along with delicate but gut-wrenching plot turns, 2LDK uses camera-shakes and sonic booms in the sound design that raise this well above the bar of the average fight film. The moments where the girls scrap are entirely plot driven, and Tsutsumi bravely holds back from the mudslinging until two-thirds of the way through the film, making certain the rivalry is well past boiling point before throwing the first punch. Paul Terry

VERDICT: 9/10
Tarantino and Rodriguez may have attempted to create a grindhouse-style twin feature this year, but for my money, this 2003 pairing is exactly what you want from a double-bill: complimentary stories, lean running times, and scripts that mesh together comedy, action and emotionally-charged dialogue.