Five Times Two (2005)

Five episodes, told in reverse, of a couple's history. Almost from the start - in a magistrate's office, finalising a divorce - nothing is quite what it seems. Ozon's backwards story telling is enlightening, obscuring causality so that the episodes in the couple's life become case studies for their mature dinner-party conversation. The increasing warmth and charm of the couple is real in each sequence but becomes isolated from the story arc, suspended.I watched the film without a sense of pathos then. An hour in I wasn't thinking 'what a shame, they seemed so in love', for example, but rather, 'yes, that's roughly what it's like at that stage - does that tally with what they discussed earlier in the film?'. In each of the episodes is a peculiar event that is rather unusual in anyone's experience. Ozon really does want us to think about the strange, cumulative nature of love rather than just watch the handsome couple's experience played out on screen.And it is a handsome couple, in a classically French way: Stéphane Freiss (Gilles) is older, rather grizzled; his (ex-)wife Marion played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi is youthful, appealing and unconventionally pretty (she also has a magnetically natural, sexy walk). Their performances are perfectly good although I think that they operate at the same rather detached intellectual level of the director. I admire the film but couldn't abandon myself to it. 5/10

Five episodes in a married couple's life, presented backwards. No special effects. Plenty of sex. What a blessed relief to come across an adult film for a change. Actually, every film by Francois Ozon is adult in nature, whether he's having pure fun (8 Women), playing mind games (Swimming Pool), or here, in a character driven story like "5X2." Its success depends heavily on a great script and great performances, and all are in evidence. The couple first appear to be unlikable, but the more we learn about them, the more sympathetic they become. The film gets sunnier (literally and figuratively) as it regresses all the way to a bittersweet ending - their happiest moment that we know won't last. Ozon respects the audience's intelligence. He doesn't spell everything out for us. There's much to ponder and debate after the film is over. My only criticism is all that smoking. Haven't the French gotten over that yet? Smart use of Paolo Conte's haunting song "Sparring Partner." Beautifully done.

So-so drama about a relationship that goes bad(kind of). The movie starts with the divorce papers being signed and then goes backwards all the way to their first encounter together. This awkward style is actually pulled off pretty well by director and writer Francois Ozon but what's wrong with the movie is that you don't really understand why things started in the first place and why it ended the way it did. There are hints, but nothing is really spelled out. It's more a chronicle of what happened with very little detail on the why's. This might work if the viewer cared about the characters but Ozon does very little in the area of background with the people involved in the story. With no depth in the characters, it is a very flat experience for the viewer. I'm usually impressed with European films because of their focus on the characters but this one didn't do anything for me despite Ozon's critically-acclaimed background.

The film 5 X 2 is a series of troubling scenes from a marriage, told in reverse order. It moves from a rather passionless, but painful divorce proceeding, through some violent goodbye sex, a plea for reconciliation by the former husband, all the way to the moment that they fell in love. Between those extremes they were never very good to each other for any length of time. The husband, Gilles, being aggressively cruel, while the wife, Marion, is passively cruel to her spouse. The motives and motivations behind these actions are never significantly explained and the viewer is left to fill in the blank spaces.Being puzzled by the ambiguity of some of the events in the film (Just Like Swimming Pool), I went to the deleted scenes and found a prologue that was not included in the final cut of the film. The scene implies that the couple at some point reconcile and are again living together. Marion awakes and moves about the home that is piled with moving boxes. She goes to one box and removes a book "Histoire d'O" (The Story of O) and a scarf. For those who are unaware, this a book about sadomasochism/dominance and submission, and a woman's experiences with it. Reading a bit of the book, she puts it down and goes to make coffee. She later re-enters the room, finds Gilles reading the same book, sneaks up behind him and blindfolds him with the scarf, while kissing him. Gilles removes the scarf and uses it to bind her hands behind her. They begin the preliminaries of lovemaking but part instead. They end up laying side by side, looking at their surroundings, glancing at one another.This scene implies that the individuals have made personal growth and had come to recognize that their previous marriage had been based on dominance and submission and neither of them wished to return to the sadomasochistic relationship of their past. It also implies, as they both look about, neither of them really have any idea where to begin, if this is not to be the nature of their new relationship. Of course, knowing what you don't want is a start of sorts. It's a great scene, quiet, somber and reflective. More importantly, it is hopeful. Hopeful, that even damaged people can learn and grow. It's too bad that it did not make the final cut of the film. What we do have in the film is probably more realistic--all too often love ends--but hopefully we do take something better to our next beginning. The final scene in 5 x 2 reminds each of us just how beautiful love can be. It is worth a viewing for that reason alone.