5x2 (2004)

Five stages in the romance between a woman and a man.

Director:

François Ozon

Writers:

François Ozon (scenario), Emmanuèle Bernheim (scenario collaborator)

Stars:

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Stéphane Freiss, Françoise Fabian

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi	...	Marion (as Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi)
Stéphane Freiss	...	Gilles
Françoise Fabian	...	Monique
Michael Lonsdale	...	Bernard
Géraldine Pailhas	...	Valérie
Antoine Chappey	...	Christophe
Marc Ruchmann	...	Mathieu
Jason Tavassoli	...	L'Américain
Jean-Pol Brissart	...	Le Juge
Eliane Kherris	...	L'avocate
Yannis Belkacem	...	Nicolas
Sylvie Debrun	...	L'échographiste
Jean Neisser	...	Le Maire
Ninon Brétécher	...	Sophie (as Ninon Bretecher)
Marie-Madeleine Fouquet	...	La mère de Gilles

Storyline

The end and beginning of the love of the French couple Marion and Gilles is disclosed backwards through five moments in their lives: 1st moment: They divorce and have one last brutal intercourse without love. 2nd moment: With their relationship shaken, they have a dinner party with Gilles's gay brother Christophe and his younger mate, when an infidelity is disclosed at the dinner table. 3rd moment: The troubled pregnancy of Marion and the delivery of their premature son Nicolas, with the total absence of Gilles. 4th moment: Their wedding, when Marion commits adultery with an unknown guest of the hotel. 5th moment: When they meet each other in an Italian resort and begin their relationship.

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Plot Keywords:

love | italian | divorce | hotel | dinner | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong graphic sexuality, language and some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

BIM Distribuzione [it] Official site [fr] (French, English)

Country:

France

Language:

French English Italian

Release Date:

1 September 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

Five Times Two

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$15,667 (USA) (10 June 2005)

Gross:

$127,692 (USA) (26 August 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fidélité Productions, France 2 Cinéma, FOZ

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the French edition of the DVD, the director offers a version of the movie titled "2 x 5". This version shows the five sequences in the chronological order, from the moment the couple meets till their divorce. Subtle editing work has been applied to make the movie work.

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Goofs

During the hotel room scene early in the film, Marion's wedding band changes from the left hand to the right hand, then back to the left again.

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Soundtracks

"Cinq Fois Deux"
Performed by Philippe Rombi
Courtsey OST by BMG

User Reviews

Finely nuanced and impressive performances

The 'reverse chronology' format, that has now been tried and tested a few times, will perhaps one day become as unshockingly acceptable as the more prosaic use of 'flashbacks'. Both involve non-linear storytelling, and both attempt to grab audience attention by time distortions. Flashbacks are now so commonplace within mainstream films that the 'purist' Dogme movement banned them altogether – being so structurally clichéd and rarely justified. So when Ozon's 5 x 2 tells a love story about two people in five chapters, but starting with the last chapter and working forward, is he using a valid artistic device or just being gimmicky? In the opening scene, our loving couple (Marion and Gilles) are finalising the details of their divorce. Afterwards they have a last-fling sexual bout which takes an unpleasant turn. Flipping back scene by scene, we next see them as a loving married and entertaining visitors, chatting away about fidelity and sexual deviance and again we see a slightly unpleasant turn – perhaps the seeds of the divorce that we already know will happen. In each chapter we follow the love story to earlier and earlier stages.

In Irreversible, another French film, the reverse chronology format was used to shock, to take us on a journey from hell to heaven. In Memento it was used to heighten suspense and provide the basic device that the mystery revolved upon – we never knew more than the main character about what had happened before.

In 5 x 2 the effect is to highlight small things that go wrong in a fairly ordinary relationship. If it were a gradual decline from better to worse they might have gone unnoticed, but our starting point being divorce our interest in why things went wrong is perhaps more acute.

The other thing that marks out this slightly unusual film is the remarkable acting range shown by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (who won Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of Marion). We see not only an incredible range of emotion but many sides to her character. The finely nuanced performance draws attention to things like the person a woman may be to her husband whilst still have a secret side, or her ability to put on a brave face when crying inside. The observation of a range of emotional and sexual explorations is done with the attention to detail that seems so intrinsic to much French cinema: the characters really seem to feel what is happening as if there is no camera on them at all. Sadly 5 x 2 however may not have the shock value of film like Irreversible or the sugar-candy feelgood factor of films like Amelie: mainstream foreign audiences like their French movies to nevertheless fulfil certain passive entertainment criteria, which this thinking and understated movie obstinately refuses to do.