The Duel Project

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.

Read individual reviews of the films:

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

2LDK - Two women fight over a part in a movie.