The Duel Project

The Duel Project

****

Reviewed by: Anton Bitel

Before Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's double-feature Grindhouse, there was the Duel Project: Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi's dyad of films linked by the common theme of a fight to the death, as well as by certain Dogme-like restrictions (action confined to two principal characters in a single setting, and shot over a single week). Kitamura's Aragami and Tsutsumi's 2LDK, though self-contained, are best appreciated together, as they offer a contrasting dynamic - one features duelling men in an isolated temple of the pre-modern era, the other duelling women in a contemporary Tokyo penthouse - that neatly shows not just characters, but also the directors themselves, at odds with each other.

So Tartan's decision to release the films as a double-disc set is to be applauded, especially at a time when Miramax seems determimed to keep the two halves of Grindhouse apart.

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Read individual reviews of the films:

- A samurai fights the god of battle on a dark and stormy night.

- Two women fight over a part in a movie.

Reviewed on: 10 Oct 2007
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The Duel Project packshot
A pair of films - Aragami and 2LDK - shot according to specific rules over one week.
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Director: See individual reviews

Writer: See individual reviews

Starring: See individual reviews

Year: 2003

Runtime: 145 minutes

Country: Japan

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