I love this movie so much

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Overrated and overhyped

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

After watching three different Ozon's movies, from disappointing Regarde la meer, interesting Swimming Pool (with unexplained twists in the plot that resulted with endless threads on it's IMDb board similar to Lynch's movies, with posters trying to explain their own visions and explanations and compare it to others) and great 8 femmes, this movie is again returning me almost to the beginning.Unlike Swimming Pool this movie doesn't make me ask what has happened (or even who is who, what is a dream and what is reality) but what is the point, why was it made the way it was and finally why was it made at all.The problem of understanding the movie begins and starts with the time-line. I don't believe that movie must have a straight time-line, flashbacks are ancient movie figures, movies that start with end and then tell the story from the beginning as well. Drops of memory from forgotten past can be irritating, but sometimes, if making a point, they add special spice to the movie (i.e. Unknown). Sometimes even false flashback parts (intentional lies that the narrator or main character tells us, i.e. Usual Suspects, or uncontrolled hallucinations in coma, i.e. La boite noire) won't spoil but make a great movie in hands of great author. Moribund agony can be also shown as straight time-line that we believe is real till the last scene (Alice ou la derniére fugue) or almost random mix of reality and nightmares (Jacob's Ladder), giving us great experiences. Even combination of converging straight and reverse time-line, as an experiment, appeared to be a masterpiece (Memento). But all of these movies have a story to tell and a point that justifies the time-line interventions.We have a kind of reverse time-line in 5x2, but not complete (as if you take a movie from ending credits and play it backward). It is made as if somebody mixed the film reels (do you remember film reels? Movie was cut in several reels and once a reel ended a new reel had to be placed on the projector; if the theater was poor and had only one projector the audience had to wait till it was done) and showed it in reverse order.Once we get used to it (the title helps us and after third leap backward we expect that we have two more to come) it makes no problems. The problem appears when a long, long scene (two lovers swimming into the open sea) announces the end of the movie. If there was at least one single ending scene from "normal" time, that would encircle the story, or if there, at the most distant period, happened anything important for the later and final scenes, we could accept that this unusual time-line had a meaning. But I haven't seen anything to justify, let alone praise for the procedure.What is maybe the worst thing is the fact that 5x2 isn't a bad movie at all. If Ozon didn't play with time periods it would be a good, not too original but well played story about an unsuccessful relation/marriage from beginning to its end, presented through several important moments in their life. Yes, there was Bergman doing it and doing it much better, but how many Bergmans can one history have? Unfortunately, Ozon won't be remembered as a man who made his version of Bergman's tales, and if he'll be lucky he won't be remembered after this movie at all. In my mind he will stay an author of 8 femmes, movie that puts Coen brothers kind of plot into Tennessee Williams characters and background. (Interesting: Ozon wrote screenplay for all of those so different movies.)

5x2 is a French film that tells five short stories which uncovers the back story to the gradual disintegration of a middle class marriage by depicting five key moments in the relationship.It stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Stéphane Freiss.The movie is written and directed by François Ozon.5x2 puts into the microscope the rise and fall of one couple's marriage. Gilles and Marion have filed for divorce following several years of marriage, and after the judge declares their union is over, the story follows the couple through five lengthy flashbacks, presented in reverse chronological order, in which glimpses of their lives together are shown, ending with the couple meeting for the first time. 5x2 follows the peaks and valleys of Gilles and Marion's relationship, viewers witness a few of the many small events that make up a marriage.It was engrossing and absorbing from beginning to end.Despite of its flaws and it is far from being a classic French movie,I personally found this film excellent and outstanding.Also,the idea of telling the story of the film in five short episodes that presents the relationship's development is original and refreshing.Overall,this is one film that is highly recommended for a viewer who wants a great love story in another form of storytelling.

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")

The film 5 X 2 is a series of troubling scenes from a marriage, told in reverse order. It moves from a rather passionless, but painful divorce proceeding, through some violent goodbye sex, a plea for reconciliation by the former husband, all the way to the moment that they fell in love. Between those extremes they were never very good to each other for any length of time. The husband, Gilles, being aggressively cruel, while the wife, Marion, is passively cruel to her spouse. The motives and motivations behind these actions are never significantly explained and the viewer is left to fill in the blank spaces.Being puzzled by the ambiguity of some of the events in the film (Just Like Swimming Pool), I went to the deleted scenes and found a prologue that was not included in the final cut of the film. The scene implies that the couple at some point reconcile and are again living together. Marion awakes and moves about the home that is piled with moving boxes. She goes to one box and removes a book "Histoire d'O" (The Story of O) and a scarf. For those who are unaware, this a book about sadomasochism/dominance and submission, and a woman's experiences with it. Reading a bit of the book, she puts it down and goes to make coffee. She later re-enters the room, finds Gilles reading the same book, sneaks up behind him and blindfolds him with the scarf, while kissing him. Gilles removes the scarf and uses it to bind her hands behind her. They begin the preliminaries of lovemaking but part instead. They end up laying side by side, looking at their surroundings, glancing at one another.This scene implies that the individuals have made personal growth and had come to recognize that their previous marriage had been based on dominance and submission and neither of them wished to return to the sadomasochistic relationship of their past. It also implies, as they both look about, neither of them really have any idea where to begin, if this is not to be the nature of their new relationship. Of course, knowing what you don't want is a start of sorts. It's a great scene, quiet, somber and reflective. More importantly, it is hopeful. Hopeful, that even damaged people can learn and grow. It's too bad that it did not make the final cut of the film. What we do have in the film is probably more realistic--all too often love ends--but hopefully we do take something better to our next beginning. The final scene in 5 x 2 reminds each of us just how beautiful love can be. It is worth a viewing for that reason alone.