Your Account   Help   |   Your Basket: Empty   Checkout

 

Coming Soon      Bestsellers      Recommended      Special Offers      MovieMail Latest

MovieMailMovieMail HomeSin City
Home > Contemporary Film > Drama > 5 X 2 (Five Times Two)

Recommended 5 X 2 (Five Times Two)

Francois Ozon, 2004

Star Review

5x2 is major step forward in the career of François Ozon. His recent hits 8 Women and Swimming Pool, though entertaining and well-acted, lacked substance. 5x2 is a far more complex work, echoing Ingmar Bergman's superlative Scenes From A Marriage - both are essentially two-handers delineating the gradual breakdown of a marriage over a number of bitter years, divided into very distinct ‘chapters’. A major difference lies in the narrative structure - 5x2 uses the same technique as Pinter’s Betrayal and Noé’s controversial Irreversible in telling its story backwards; Ozon's film begins with the divorce of Marion and Gilles and ends with the beginning of their relationship. In between we see an awkward dinner party, the birth of the couple's child and their wedding.
This modus operandi encourages the audience to contemplate whether the separation was inevitable; Gilles appears to be completely reprehensible in the first few segments, yet as the film progresses we observe that Marion, too, is not without vice. We see Marion’s parents as an example of a similarly problematic marriage which withstood marital difficulties, and an unconventional gay couple who are nominally against monogamy, although it is clear that one of the men is unhappy with the situation.
The obscenity of the final image – Marion and Gilles walk hand in hand into the sunset, blissfully oblivious to the pain and cruelty ahead – leaves a bitter aftertaste, owing to its knowing pretence of being a happy ending. This poignant denouement, the high-class acting (Tedeschi's wistfully melancholic performance as Marion in particular) and sensitive dialogue make 5x2 one of the most interesting French films of the year.

Alex Davidson on 9th August 2005

View all 153 of Alex Davidson’s reviews

[ Show Film Description ]

Reviews

Share your thoughts - write a review

Film Stills - click to view in full


View all 2 film stills in full size

Related Genres

£15.99

RRP: £19.99
Save £4.00 (20%)
Free Delivery on UK Orders!

Availability
This product should be despatched within 4 days. Delivery times

Film Ratings

Average Rating

5/5

Log in to place your vote!

DVD Extras
  • Cut scenes plus commentary
  • Making-of documentary
  • Picture gallery.
Film Details

Director

Francois Ozon

Year

2004

Country

Europe, France

Cast

Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Stephane Freiss

Technical Details

Certificate

15

Length

90 mins

Label

UGC-F

Format

DVD Colour

Region

2

Aspect

1.77 Wide Screen

Cat No

P917501000

Main Language

FRENCH

Subtitles

English

Customers who liked this also liked...

2004, Patrice Leconte, DVD

 

£15.99

RRP: £19.99
Save £4.00

Recommended Intimate Strangers

Aka Confidences Trop Intimes. A shy tax lawyer is taken aback one day when a young woman looking for her psyc...

More Details

 

See Alsos -
Handpicked recommendations of related films

MovieMail Latest

 

 

 

Films by Francois Ozon

 

Films starring Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

 

 

 

 

 RSS Feeds | Podcast | October Film Catalogue | Subscribe to our email newsletter!

Browse our Film catalogue: DVDs by Genre | DVDs by Country | DVDs by Director | DVDs by Actor

New Releases | Bestsellers | Recommended | Special Offers | MovieMail Latest

 

 

MovieMail use a Thawte certificate to ensure secure transmission of your information. Click here for for information HACKER SAFE certified sites prevent over 99.9% of hacker crime.

 

 

For questions or assistance, call us on (+44) 0844 776 0900 or email enquiries@moviemail-online.co.uk

© 1996-2008 MovieMail Ltd., All Rights Reserved. Find out more about MovieMail