5x2 (2004)

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 | Australia:MA | 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:

Sophie Marceau and Vincent Cassel were approached to play the parts of Marion and Gilles.

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:

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Is Love and Marriage Hopeless? Maybe, Maybe Not, At Least in France

"5x2" is not the first film to explore a relationship by going backwards from its end to its beginning (Pinter's "Betrayal" comes to mind let alone the mystery in "Memento").

But writer/director François Ozon, aided by superb acting, uses the structure for a thoughtful and intriguing commentary on love and marriage.

The first scene sets up our curiosity as while a lawyer dryly reads the divorce agreement, letting us know the cold facts of the marriage, there is palpable electricity between the about to be ex-wife and husband such that we are not surprised when they immediately head to a hotel, as it turns out their relationship started in a hotel.

We are introduced to the complexities between this couple as their layers are played out through a sexual encounter that is open to "he said, she said" interpretations that will continue as we flashback to key points in their relationship. The other four incidents show them as parents, at the birth of their child, at their wedding and at their meeting, all played out in relation to her parents' long-time conflicted marriage and his brother's homosexual arrangements, amid other encounters.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi is so luminous as "Marion" that I'm not sure if it's her beautiful acting, as she is in turn up-tight, conflicted, sensual, fragile or aggressive, or her character who changes or that François Ozon is such a sensitive director of women, as he showed in "Swimming Pool" and "Under the Sand (Sous le sable)", that I favored her character, even if we gradually learn that she may or may not be as much of a victim as it seems and she is as much influenced by physical imperatives as he is. Stéphane Freiss plays virtually the opposite of his caring husband in "Le Grand Rôle," even if it becomes less and less clear he's the S.O.B. he at first could appear to be, or if his character experiences any changes or learns anything through serial somewhat monogamy, especially because some details in their past are just left mysterious.

The film is certainly not optimistic about love being an effective basis for a man and a woman to sustain a long term relationship and it leaves open-ended for a gendered discussion about whether that applies to the particulars of these individuals, or to them as French or as Europeans, vs. universals, as Americans would probably interpret their interactions differently than other audiences.

Certainly, in a frankly sexually mature film it's nice to see non-Hollywood bodies, of a zaftig woman and a guy without a personal trainer credit listed.

The frequent use of Paolo Conte songs on the soundtrack add to the ironic feeling surrounding the film, even if the lyrics aren't translated in the many white-on-white subtitles.

Going off into the sunset, and the cinematography and production design, from dark to light, throughout are lovely, hasn't had such an ironic conclusion since the original "Planet of the Apes."