Kei a cash-strapped aspiring actor (Drive My Car’s Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Yu, a junior employee at a high-end clothing store (Eri Yu), are a young couple living a mannered, domestic life. But just beneath the surface of their relationship, a slow dance of high stakes affection and alienation is nearing the breaking point. An under-seen masterstroke of ‘90s Japanese cinema, Nobuhiro Suwa’s breakout film, 2/Duo has been newly remastered under the supervision of Suwa and cinematographer Masaki Tamura.
For thoughts on 2/Duo, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:
Video Quality
2/Duo comes to Blu-Ray in 1080p courtesy of a strong restoration undertaken by Arbelos Films under the supervision of director Nobuhiro Suwa and cinematographer Masaki Tamura. The lovely natural film grain is faithfully resolved and consistent while allowing discrete details to shine through in the contemporary production design. Facial features are textured with age lines detectable alongside natural skin tones. Some lingering specks of damage remain and there are some instances of dropped frames, but you can tell there has been great care taken with this one. Colors are well saturated with nuanced colors bringing life to the picture. Black levels are deep without any significant blocking or compression artifacts, and highlights never get overly bright. This film has not been given the biggest spotlight to date, so it is rewarding to see it look so amazing thanks to Arbelos.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track in the original Japanese that admirably captures the reserved soundscape of the film. The environmental sounds are brought to life with precision alongside everything else. Noises such as car engines and certain weather effects stand out the most. There does not seem to be any egregious instances of age-related wear and tear remaining. Dialogue comes through clearly without getting covered up by any parallel sounds. Music is used purposefully to conjure a specific tone for the story, and this track handles it impeccably throughout the duration of the film. Arbelos Films has given this feature a preserved audio presentation that delivers what is asked of it. Optional English subtitles are provided.
Special Features
The Blu-Ray of 2/Duo includes a bound booklet featuring a foreword by Pedro Costa and the essay “Two to Tangle” by Jonathan Rosenbaum which provides a great amount of context and insight into the film that is so worthwhile. The on-disc special features are as follows:
- Interview with Director Nobuhiro Suwa: A terrific 68-minute interview with the filmmaker in which he delves into his background and upbringing, the influences on his filmmaking, the process of making his first feature, notable experiences throughout his career, and more.
- Additional Student Films & Short Films From Nobuhiro Suwa: A selection of additional works from the filmmaker is provided in the best quality available with some of the earlier work looking understandably pretty rough. None of these quite reach the level of the main feature, but they are all intriguing to chart the journey of this talent.
- Hanasareru Gang (1984) (1:25:59)
- Friends (1986) (18:17)
- A Letter From Hiroshima (2002) (36:07)
- Adventures of a Red Ball Workshop (2019) (5:41)
- U.S. Theatrical Trailer (2:07)
Final Thoughts
2/Duo is a raw and captivating relationship drama that gently builds in a way that reveals new layers to the characters throughout. You understand that these two should not be together, but you can also see how they have come to be so wrapped up together. The performances at the forefront here are very natural and impressive, and the film employs some creative flourishes to keep the filmmaking as interesting as the narrative itself. This one is well worth discovering. Arbelos Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a pretty strong A/V presentation and a rich selection of special features. If you are a fan of international independent cinema, this release is not to be missed. Recommended
2/Duo is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Arbelos Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
