Film Review: 5X2 (Cinq fois deux, 2004)
European arthouse cinema at times can look as depending on cheap gimmick and "high concepts" as mainstream Hollywood; an example can be found in 5x2, French drama directed by François Ozon. While the film is technically proficient and offers a sharp critique of bourgeois relationships, it ultimately suffers from a reliance on stylistic flourishes that feel calculated rather than organic. The plot, based on the script Ozon had written together with Emmanuèle Bernheim, chronicles the marriage between Gilles Ferrond (played by Stéphane Freiss) and Marion Chamard (played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). It is a study in dissolution, presented through a narrative structure that prioritises form over pure emotional resonance.
The plot begins on 17 February 2003, at the moment of the marriage’s end. Both spouses sign divorce papers, having already reached an agreement regarding property division and joint custody over their young son, Nicolas. They briefly reunite in a hotel room for what is supposed to be a farewell sex, but the scene devolves into violence. Gilles rapes his ex-wife, and she leaves him in disgust. This act of brutality sets the tone for the film, suggesting a relationship defined by failure and resentment. The plot then goes back in time in four segments, each in reverse chronological order, showing various points in which their marriage and relationship deteriorated.
The first flashback takes place at a dinner party where Gilles and Marion host Gilles' middle-aged gay brother, Christophe (played by Antoine Chappey), and his young lover, Mathieu (played by Marc Ruchmann). Despite all the joviality and the consumption of fine food, the conversation turns to infidelity, revealing the deep tensions festering beneath the surface of the spouses' lives. The next scene shows Marion going into premature labour. Gilles finds all kinds of excuses not to rush to the hospital, treating the event as an inconvenience rather than a crisis. Later, when he finally arrives after Nicolas is born, he is chastised by his mother-in-law, Monique (played by Françoise Fabian). Even on such an occasion, she cannot help but quarrel with her husband, Bernard (played by Michael Lonsdale), further illustrating the dysfunction that permeates the family unit.
The timeline then moves to the couple's wedding, which is portrayed as a joyous occasion. However, Gilles is afterwards too drunk and physically exhausted to have sex with his new bride. Marion, in frustration, slips out of the hotel room and walks near bushes where she is spotted by an unnamed American tourist (played by Jason Tavassoli). She has sex with him before returning to the hotel room to her unsuspecting husband. The final segment is set in an Italian beachside resort visited by Gilles and his long-term girlfriend, Valérie (played by Géraldine Pailhas). The same resort is visited by Marion, whom Gilles casually knows as a PR agent for his firm and who arrived there by coincidence after being stood up by her friend on a trip to Senegal. Gilles and Marion keep bumping into each other, and Valérie can't fail noticing that Gilles appears to enjoy Marion's company. While Valérie goes hiking, Gilles decides to join Marion at the beach, and at sunset, two of them go to swim together. This idyllic scene confirms their future together, offering a fleeting moment of hope amidst the wreckage of the marriage.
Ozon's film is well-directed and well-written; the same can be said for the quality of acting. The cast includes an old and recognisable name of character actor Michael Lonsdale, who brings gravitas to the role of Bernard. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, sister of the former French First Lady Carla Bruni and later renowned as a director in her own right, bravely handles her complex role. She is forced to play the same character in different stages of the relationship and also appears nude and in some rather graphic sex scenes, a testament to her commitment to the material.
Ozon, by his own admission, found inspiration in Ingmar Bergman's classic film Scenes from a Marriage. However, behind all this is rather a clinical approach to modern marriage and the life of the upper middle class in French society. Ozon, who is gay, tries to "spice it up" with gay themes. These themes not only include the protagonist's brother but the protagonist himself discussing his own homosexual experiences during a drug-fuelled orgy attended with his wife. Ozon also tries to signal switches in time with the use of Italian pop music standards. This is a nice stylistic choice, although not always used consistently.
Yet, behind all this is pure gimmick – namely the now very fashionable use of a non-linear narrative structure, with events being portrayed in reverse chronological order. While the structure works to create dramatic irony and emphasizes the inevitability of the couple's failure, it is nevertheless very gimmicky. Some of the more perceptive or more cynical viewers could – due to that very structure and some of the content that involves rape, sexual encounters with strangers, and pregnancy – describe *5x2? as some sort of Ozon's remake of Gaspar Noé's Irreversible, although it is much less graphic and directed in a more disciplined way that make it more digestible for the audience.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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