6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
5x2, August 14, 2006
This review is from: 5X2 (DVD)
"5x2" (Five Times Two) is written & directed by Francois Ozon, who previously made the English language film "Swimming Pool." That film was a noir-ish murder mystery with lots of sex. A lot of people didn't like it, a lot of people loved it. I fall into the second category. In 5x2 he takes a step back as far as entertainment, but takes a step forward in realism. This movie isn't very original, the story's been done before and the reversal thing's been done hundreds of times...But the dialogue and events happen pretty realistically, which helps. When we meet Gilles (Stephane Freiss) and Marion (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), a married couple they are in front of a divorce lawyer about ready to sign their divorce papers. Once they do and they are officially divorced, they go to a motel room and have quick meaningless sex that neither one of them enjoys. After Gilles asks Marion if she'd like to try again (marriage, that is) she simply leaves. The film jumps backwards to a fairly awkward moment. Gilles and Marion are entertaining Gilles' gay brother and his boyfriend, where Gilles makes some fairly odd revelations. Skipping back again, we see the difficult birth of their son Nicolas; Their marriage; How they met and then, finally, them walking off into the sunset after their first encounter. I know it sounds as if I just ruined the ffilm for you, but rest assured. I just described every event in the film and didn't really tell you anything. This is a good foreign-film; This movie could take place in America just as easily and almost everything Ozon has in this film really happens to the most average couples (with the exception of Gilles' revelation. That only happens with certain ones). The film is no masterpiece and it's not "Brilliant!" like the cover says. It's an interesting character study for sure, the scenes of nudity are nice, and it keeps you fairly entertained. As I said, his previous effort Swimming Pool was much better...But this isn't a bad film. In a few words; Rent It First.
GRADE: B
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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
(5 x 2) - (2 x 2) = 3***, March 1, 2006
This review is from: 5X2 (DVD)
I want to point out right away that I thought Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi is excellent in this film. After just watching her rather low key performance as a police inspector in Claude Chabrol's The Color of Lies, she shows a dynamic emotional range that I wouldn't have thought her capable. It may be her acting skills have really been finely tuned in the 6 years between films, or it could have just been the way her unemotional character was written for Chabrol's film. Either way, she makes this very dark film, enlightening.
The film portrays a 5 point timeline in the lives of one married couple just completing a divorce. The events are shown in reverse order: 1) the divorce, 2) nearing the end of their marriage, 3) the birth of their son, 4) their wedding night, and 5) when they first became attracted to each other. Breaking the film up into 5 segments actually seems to speed the film along, and breaks the monotony of what could otherwise have been just another talky, morality driven French film.
I think the reverse order is a creative way to tell the tale, however, you ought to make sure the two last chapters (or first chapters) are strong enough to carry the weight of the end of the film. Unfortunately, the first 3 events are what makes this film, and it sadly tails off with the last 2. They are suppose to be the more upbeat time of the relationship, and should be the most satisfying of the film, but we are left with one that is very contrived, and the other rather dull.
The opening divorce sequence is very moving, and opens the very dramatic first hour of the film. We quickly see how much of an a-hole Gilles (the husband) really is, and how seemingly sweet Marion is (that is, until the wedding night sequence). The next event is a time after their son looks to be about 6-years-old, and you can see the marriage isn't going very well. It features a scene with Gille's gay brother and his aloof younger boyfriend. You can see Marion beginning to break down at this point, and we do not seem very far away from what is to become in the opening sequence.
The birth of their son features Gilles being a butthole again, and deliberately not being present for the delivery. While it is not clear how strained the marriage is at this point, it features some poignant scenes with Marion alone in the hospital. At one point, she is in tears on her cell phone speaking to Gilles, who still hasn't come to see her, and asks him to bring some things from home. I think it's the most effective moment in the film.
That brings us to the last 2 moments, or the first 2 in their relationship. Up to this segment and right through to the end of the wedding ceremony, I felt this was playing out to be one superb film. Even in the darker tones of the first hour, I thought we were now getting into some juicy territory with the happier times in this couple's lives, and that this may play out to be one of the best French films I've seen in a long time. However, that all came crashing down with a preposterous turn of events on their wedding night. I won't give it away, but it features an offensively stereotypical, Marlboro smoking, American male character. Despite this rather cheap shot at portraying an American in a French film, it's not this character that disturbs me as much as how Tedeschi's character reacts in these scenes. There is nothing before or after this that would remotely lead anyone to believe that she would act this way. It is a very unfathomable scene, and literally crumbles the movie at this point.
On to the last scene, where the couple first begin an attraction. What we have is a boring sequence where Gilles is on vacation with his girlfriend and meets Marion, a brief work related aquaintance, and seems to fall for her. There are NO sparks in these scenes and we are left with what should have been the best part of the film, being the dullest.
There was a deleted scene called prologue, which featured a time just after they were married, and moving into a new home. I thought this was a great scene, and had it been included in the film, it would have been the brightest point, in this otherwise dreary relationship. Maybe Ozon didn't want to name it 6x2! I would have taken that sequence over the wedding night one or their first meeting.
A brilliant film for the first hour, but a let down in the last 25 minutes. This could have been a strong film, with a failed relationship told in reverse order. Even with the gloomy tone of this troubled marriage, some stronger writing in the last key segments could have made this one impressive piece of cinema.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet illusion, don't ever become reality!, June 5, 2007
This review is from: 5X2 (DVD)
Francois Ozon shows us an original proposal around the intimacies of a couple who started so promisingly a magnificent relationship, but along the road they will meet one each other and the final result will lead them to an expected painful finale.
Valeria Tedeschi was intense and fabulous in this film, hovered by musical memories of old Italian songs that present us the story through a smart flash back, where the end of the movie was their genesis as couple.
On one hand, the final sequence with the fixed camera reminds us Antonioni, and the way Ozon edits reminds us to Erich Rohmer, but the script is extremely crude and powerful that supports and makes of this movie a must see.
If there`s authentic love the fidelity has no sense, because is included in the word.
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