Strong and Moving!

Simply A Masterpiece

Admirable film.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Anyone who knows director Francois Ozon only for his daft musical comedy 'Eight Women' might be rather shocked by the first scene of this movie, a nasty moment of post-marital rape. The film consists of five episodes in a couple's life (hence the title), the obvious point for comparison is Bergman's 'Scenes from a Marriage', and the novelty is that we see the episodes in reverse order. After watching the first one, I was filled with dread at the horrors I would witness thereafter, seeing the poison creep into the relationship, with a growing theme of retrospectively false hope - I thought this would be a very harrowing movie. Instead, none of this happens. Ozon samples the marriage more than tells its full story, many of the scenes hint at the subtle complexity of the relationship between man and wife, but this is not a narrative of destruction, just a collection of snapshots from two lives. There are moments of perception, others seem less adept (I didn't believe the American businessman, for example); but whereas Bergman seemed to show character as destiny, here there's an incidental quality to the plot, and though I enjoyed the movie, ultimately I wasn't quite sure of its point.

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.

Good movie. Serious. I like it. And the scenario is very good. Music is super! i've downloaded soundtrack... By submitting this comment you are agreeing to the terms laid out in our Copyright Statement. Your submission must be your own original work. Your comments will normally be posted on the site within 2-3 business days. Comments that do not meet the guidelines will not be posted. Please write in English only. HTML or boards mark-up is not supported though paragraph breaks will be inserted if you leave a blank line between paragraph. By submitting this comment you are agreeing to the terms laid out in our Copyright Statement. Your submission must be your own original work. Your comments will normally be posted on the site within 2-3 business days. Comments that do not meet the guidelines will not be posted. Please write in English only. HTML or boards mark-up is not supported though paragraph breaks will be inserted if you leave a blank line between paragraph.

Francois Ozon's movies are quickly achieving that reputation of being ambiguous in ending, but poignant and deeply reflective. Right now there are few directors who are allowing themselves to produce features that allow them to move freely within the world of the story, re-configure it, and present it in a new way that may shed light as to what really is taking place, and even if it means anything in particular. It is possible that some audiences will be getting tired by the use of style -- in this case, telling a story backward, a plot device used most notably in Christopher Nolan's smash 2000 debut film MEMENTO. But when you look at it, it's not so much the story as the feeling of irony that keeps getting stronger and stronger until it is a force of nature equivalent to the Category 5 hurricane that destroys a marriage and further inflicts damage by imposing that "one last time" sexual encounter in an anonymous hotel. Maybe Marion (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, heartbreaking and luminous) and Gilles (Stephane Freiss) were never meant to be together in the first place. Their backwards story, so pregnant in what isn't being said, what isn't being expressed, and what the two seem to be going through, is crystal clear: from the get-go, despite that illusion of the Sun setting over the horizon, they were doomed. Something crucial is missing between them -- a something that rears its ugly head in two key moments of their lives. First, the day Marion gives birth to their son. Gilles for some reason cannot be there when she goes into labor nor when she talks on the phone with him after it's all over. Her argument with her parents is only a hint of what we've seen earlier: the crumbling of their marriage in screams and a rape scene. Second, their wedding night, when Gilles falls asleep when he should be enjoying this blissful moment with Marion and has her exiting the hotel, looking for a substitute even when a moral part of her yells at her with exclamation points what she's doing is wrong. In fact, Gilles seems to be sabotaging his chance at happiness at every turn, and it's hard not to see Marion's face subtly change expressions when he tells his brother Christophe and his young lover (late in their marriage, early in the movie) that Marion and he participated in an orgy where he had sex in every possible way. There's just a hint here, that he couldn't see himself living with her. He is, in fact, the person who states that Christophe is headed for disaster with his new lover. Of course, the last blow he inflicts on Marion will be the most painful one (and Ozon never strays from showing it in its ugliness).If only we all could turn back time and go to that perfect moment when all was well under the aegis of the Sun setting over the golden sea.... 5 x 2 makes the viewer wonder what we could do, should we have the power to go back and revisit that tender moment. Another masterpiece of storytelling from Francois Ozon, stark, naked, ugly, but sadly beautiful.