This is a rare gem. The feature film debut of director
Nobuhiro Suwa. It's a no-budget, mostly improvised slice of emotionally repressed life which observes a young couple for a short period of time as they struggle to communicate. I wouldn't say things are going badly for them at this particular point in their lives, they seem very much in love, but the relationship is uncomfortable.
Kei (
Nishijima) is a struggling actor, freeloading off Yu (
Eri Yu) which makes him impulsive and insecure resulting in unpredictable behavior, fits of anger, and a proposal of marriage. Yu works in a boutique as a shop assistant and seems to be playing the archetype of the abused and unappreciated Japanese woman who tackles her fate with a Zen determinism. Her habit of laughing during the most tense and awkward moments makes her appear a little unstable but also very real, almost surreal.
Even without a handful of scenes where the characters (the actors?) are interviewed about their feelings by an off-screen voice, the film has a fly-on-the-wall documentary feel.
2 Duo is a quietly disturbing character study and the blurring of fiction with documentary might serve to enhance the impact but I'm not interested in critiquing the film from that angle. This is a film which lets us observe the surface interactions of a couple characters that clearly have immense depth. With its crisp vision, assured direction, and most of all its fine acting we really don't need any meta-narrative in order to be fully engaged. I'll leave it to film school students to comment on the ramifications of the documentary style interviews if such a critical look is needed.
This is a small, quiet film with characters that seem overflowing with histories right when we meet them. It's a little sad and painful but it's executed so well there's an uplifting quality to it. This is mostly due to the performance of
Eri Yu, who went on to make a few more films but then seems to have disappeared from the industry. Nishijima's performance isn't quite the caliber of Yu's, or perhaps his character isn't as interesting. Being a jerk isn't as complex as being someone who bes with that jerk with their head held high, slightly wobbling.
★★★★★
Director:
Nobuhiro Suwa
Starring:
Eri Yu,
Hidetoshi Nishijima,
Makiko Watanabe
IMDb
Suwa Nobuhiro's follow up to the marvelous 2/Duo. This is another mostly improvised, watching-paint-dry indie flick—although it's more mature in content and character. Makiko Watanabe is superb as Aki, a young woman who's shacked up with an older guy, Tetsuro, who brings his eight year old son to live with them while his wife recuperates from a car accident. At first Aki resents the idea, mainly because she wasn't consulted. She knows she will be tasked with most of the chores related to caring for the child, but soon comes to like her new role and is conflicted when it's coming to an end.
