This is an excellent J-horror film that takes the simple premise of one girl
fighting another to a higher level.
In Japan, 2LDK is used to identify an apartment as having two bedrooms, a bathroom,
a dining room, and a kitchen. When two people share the same apartment, tensions and
moody build-ups are going to agitate even the calmest of souls.
Tsutsumi Yukihiko uses that sort of pent-up frustration to great advantage in 2LDK
and that is what makes a short film like this work.
The film starts by introducing the two main characters, Nozomi and Rana, who both
work for the same talent agency and are both up for a major starring role after
surviving an intense audition.
The two characters are the perfect polar opposites. Nozomi, played by Koike Eiko, is
a small town country girl from Sado Island who longs to make her community and her
parents proud by acting in a movie. She is the most intelligent of the two.
Next is Rana, played by Maho Nonami, who wears expensive Gucci jewelry and flaunts
her money on expensive clothes, she desperately needs this role to stay competitive
against other actors. She honestly tries to get along with the fussy uptight Nozomi.
Co-existing in an apartment in hard enough and with competing rivalry thrown into
the mix something bad is going to happen.
After a slow build-up of contrasting characters, Tsutsumi turns up the violence to a
level that Tarantino could only dream of.
Nozomi and Rana get into a massive fight that makes the action scenes from both
Kill Bill movies pale by comparison.
It starts out with both slapping each other in the face. These are not the slap
games of childhood but slaps meant to cause harm. The slapping escalates into
punches, samurai sword slashing, daggers, cleaning products sprayed into the eyes,
and even a chainsaw.
I don’t want to discuss the ending because it would be unfair to such a great film.
All I can say is that the ending was satisfying and not a complete happy Hollywood
let-down. This is not a martial arts film. Neither Nozomi nor Rana are using karate
blows or judo throws, they are both using weapons and household goods with the
intention to kill.
I have not seen two girls fighting this hard and nasty in a movie in a very long time.
The subtitles are easy to follow and they don’t distract you at all. Once the action
starts, it just keeps coming at you. Check this out this Halloween and you won’t be
disappointed.
"The Asian Aperture" is ©2009 by Jason Fetters. Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2009 by Nolan B. Canova.
