If there is a negative to be found in the massive success of Christopher Nolan’s Memento it is in the subsequent over-use of the reverse narrative. Through the first half of Ozon’s 5 X 2 I couldn’t help but feel that this was one of those occasions where a film maker fell in love with a narrative trick, employing it purely to say ‘Look, I’m being clever’, and I couldn’t for the life of me fathom why Ozon felt the need to tell this story in reverse. I was enjoying it, yes, appreciating it as a masterful piece of film, but I couldn’t imagine what it gained by being told in reverse order. But somewhere around the midpoint my feelings began to change. Suddenly my opinions of the characters began to reverse, many of the assumptions I’d made about them fell apart, and by the end I was in a thorough muddle as to the morality of the whole piece - which was exactly as Ozon intended – and a thorough believer in the approach. 5 X 2 is my second experience of Ozon and I’m told that it is one of his lesser works. If that is so than I am prepared to be utterly amazed by his other material because there is plenty here to establish his credentials as a master of his art.
The story of a dissolved relationship 5 X 2 tells the story of Gilles and Marion from their meeting to their marriage to the birth of their son to their divorce through five distinct episodes of their life together, arranged in reverse chronological order. In other words the film starts with their divorce and moves backward until their meeting. In the early going of the film – the late going of their relationship – you will be utterly convinced that Gilles is a bastard. A complete, unsympathetic, self absorbed bastard. Marion seems a positive saint by comparison, a trod upon angel and you can only wonder why on earth she tolerates this behavior. But by the time you reach the end of the film – or the beginning of the relationship – you have discovered that answer and while the answer may not allow you to forgive Gilles’ later actions it certainly makes them more understandable.
Ozon’s particular genius lies in his ability to capture intimate moments, not necessarily in the sexual sense - though those are sometimes involved – but in the way he finds the quiet, key moments that define us without our being aware of them and sheds such a soft light on them that we find them almost instinctively. Ozon understands that it’s not the big moments that define us but what we do in the quiet that surrounds them and he captures those quiet times flawlessly. Key to doing this, of course, is his cast and they are superb right across the board. There is never any indication that these people are ‘acting’, rather they simply are the characters through and through, right from top to bottom.
Canada’s Seville have given the film a dead solid release. The transfer is anamorphic and very good. The disc offers complete French and English menu systems – Seville is a Quebec based company – and the English system is flawless from the menus right down to the subtitles. Audio comes in 5.1 and you get audition reels, a Making Of feature, deleted scenes and lighting tests included. There is also an optional director’s commentary but, alas, this commentary does not include English subtitles.
5 X 2 is a film that will stay with you. You will care about these people. They will trouble you, frustrate you, and anger you. They will do so because you see yourself in them. Highly recommended.