Five Times Two

The end and beginning of the love of the French couple Marion (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) and Gilles (Stéphane Freiss) 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 (Antoine Chappey) 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 Giles.

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.

This simple and realistic movie recalls "Irreversible" (2002), since the screenplay discloses five moments of the relationship of a couple chronologically backwards. I believe the first intention of François Ozon is to remember that behind every divorce, there is a couple that loved each other in the past, that decided to marry each other expecting to live together and raise a family of their own. However, relationships usually deteriorate and time destroys everything including love. In these fragmented glimpses of the lives of Marion and Gilles, the viewer does not see exactly when their love ended, but after their initial encounter, there are many signs suggesting the beginning of the end: the adultery of Marion in the wedding night; the absence of Gilles in the birth of his son; his consented participation in an orgy in the presence of Marion, visibly showing one sort of last attempt to save their empty marriage. Further to the good screenplay, the outstanding and strong performances of the sexy Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Stéphane Freiss give the credibility to the characters. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Amor em 5 Tempos" ("Love in 5 Times")

A film that suggests a cross between Bergmans's gut-wrenching "Scenes From a Marriage" (1973) and Stanley Donen's more lighthearted "Two For the Road" (1967), mixed in a bit with that backwards "Seinfeld" episode, "5X2" (2005) is a very fine adult drama from director Francois Ozon. As the title suggests, it is comprised of five short glimpses at the doomed relationship of a handsome professional couple, Marion (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) and Gilles (Stephane Freiss). As in "Two For the Road," we see unchronological snapshots of this couple's failing marriage, but unlike the '67 film, rather than being given scattershot scenes from various periods, here we proceed continuously backward in time: from the divorce settlement and its rather icky aftermath, backward to one of the couple's dinner parties, back still to the birth of their premature son, on to their wedding party (and a most unusual wedding night, to put it mildly), and all the way back to one of their first meetings. Our foreknowledge that the couple's marriage is doomed makes the cracks in Marion and Gilles' relationship stand out all the clearer. Consequently, the pretty, upbeat ending is rendered bittersweet at best, with our preglimpse of what their future holds. "5X2" has been finely put together and features sterling acting down to the smallest bit players. It was especially great for me seeing that grand old actor, Michael Lonsdale (who will always be Hugo Drax for us Bond fanatics), still acting at age 74, here playing Marion's father. My only complaint, really, concerning "5X2" is that it is a bit on the short and sketchy side; perhaps a few extra scenes would have enabled us to more fully understand the characters' motivations, particularly Gilles' (and especially his no-show at his son's birth). This, for me, is the only thing that prevents "5X2" from being a perfect 10.

As another reviewer before me, I also can't believe how badly people are writing about this film here. I adore Francois Ozon and I've seen all his feature-length films. This one seems quite different from the others (except, maybe, Sous le sable) and it's as low-key as Ozon could ever get, but it is still an excellently scripted and played film that makes one think.

I didn't consider the backwards structure to be gimmicky at all, it rather helped the viewer to better make out flaws early in the relationship. There is betrayal in each one of the episodes, starting with the last (chronologically the first) one. The film shows us that even little egoisms and uncharitable behavior can lead to grave consequences - in this case, to divorce. The woman, Marion, seems to be easily led anywhere, not having enough standing of her own, while the man, Gilles, seems to be egoistic, cowardly and sometimes just simply sex-crazed.

I think the structure rather helps us to understand the characters better, since we have already seen the consequences of their actions and attitudes. I didn't consider the large gaps between (and also in) the episodes to be a problem - they only acknowledge that the whole story can never be told because it is made up by every single moment between their first meeting and the last time they see each other. These episodes can only indicate what went wrong, they cannot explain - that would be too simplistic.

The actors were excellent, especially Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi. The way the looks of the main characters changed during the film (becoming more and more youthful and fresh as the story goes backwards), was also excellently done.

The parallel love stories (between Gilles's brother and his young lover, and between Marion's parents) shed some more light on the relationship between Marion and Gilles - also on what might have gone wrong.

This film should probably be required viewing for every couple wanting to get married... :-) Not in order to deter them, but rather to make them aware of the pitfalls of relationships and married life.

This film is about 5 segments of the relationship between Gilles and Marion in reverse chronological order.

I thought the reverse chronological order would make it as confusing as "Memento", but actually it is very simple to understand. The film highlights 5 different time segments that is pivotal to the relationship. What happens in between the segments is not mentioned. It leaves the viewers much room for imagination and interpretation.

It is a story about real human beings. No one is flawless. The carnal desire of Gilles, and his shameless expression of it, destroys his love life. Valerie's passionless attitude and negativity destroys her relationship. Marion, on the other hand, gets repeatedly disappointed with life. Everything in the film is so real and close to us, unlike most films that portray fairytale couples or unrealistic lives.

I particularly like the childbirth segment, as emotions are well portrayed and affecting. I think this film is good, but not as groundbreaking as I expected it to be.

The reverse chronology brings together what all too often tears us apart, wait it's love, love that tears us apart. Marriage really is a different thing altogether.

The film feels to a degree like flipping through old photographs, nostalgia is a form of pain, right? What was interesting was to see the actors really portraying quite different characters in the five sets, although had I seen the French Remix where the scenes are re-reversed, perhaps it would have all seemed more fated and just an unwrapping of a bitter, broken wedding gift.

I did wonder if the movie was filmed in proper chronological order.

There is something about maid Marion's parents, that is placed on a very tiny pedestal, without much explanation. I found compassion in watching Valerie Bruni-Tedeschi here...while her lesser half did not get much of a fair chance at redemption.

All of us, and all of our partners are flawed. But perhaps not all relationships are fatally flawed. Find someone emotionally compatible and give it a shot, maybe savor the best memories periodically. Good luck...