5x2 (2004)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

François Ozon

Writers:

François Ozon (scenario)
Emmanuèle Bernheim (scenario collaborator)

Release Date:

1 September 2004 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Son | Wedding Night | Dinner Party | Adultery

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

5 x 2: Five Times Two (Canada: English title) (festival title)
Cinq fois deux (France) (alternative spelling)
Five Times Two (International: English title) (long title)
Nous deux (France) (working title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English | Italian

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Taiwan:R-18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Chile:14 | Hungary:16 | Brazil:14 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | South Korea:18 | Japan:R-15 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | New Zealand:R18 | Czech Republic:18 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:R21 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Hong Kong:III | Italy:VM14 | USA:R | Ireland:18 | Sweden:11 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Fidélité Productions

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Soundtrack:

La Danse Des Maries

Deceptively simple, deceptively powerful

This is one of the most resonant films I have seen for a long time. Superb performances by both leads and a simple but very effective structure. To begin at the end and move backwards to look at moments, glimpses, fragments is such a simple device yet devastatingly effective as demonstrated with such expertise by Ozon here. I found certain moments deeply moving such as the physical assault on his wife. It seemed like a desperate attempt by the husband to try and claim power over his wife. But we know that the relationship is in the final throes of death. I loved the scene on the wedding night when she looks at her mother and father who we have previously seen rowing, just dancing alone at the reception. Somehow you know that their relationship will last and there is hope for them. The adultery the wife commits seemed to work although at first I thought it too contrived. Her pleasure on seeing her husband and love for him as he sleeps when she creeps back into the room felt very real. For me however the most beautiful and most moving sequence was the end when they first meet. It was wonderfully set up and echoed real life so well. It is always a series of events, a chain that causes all the pieces to fall in the right place and the couple to meet. It such a subtle scene when they talk on the beach as we know they are about to fall in love. When they walk into the golden sea bathed in light the two are literally becoming one as they embark on a new chapter in both their lives. The beauty of the scene is made more powerful by the conflicting emotion in our minds as we know that this love will be destroyed. How can something so perfect ever diminish? What Ozon is saying is that all things must die, that surely it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Go and see this film. It is marvellous.