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Mathew Scott

5x2

Starring: Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi,  Stephane Freiss

Director: Francois Ozon

Category: III (French)

Francois Ozon has this thing about human relations. What he likes to do is  turn  the camera on  the little things that pass between us in life - the lies, the deceits, the transgressions that we  experience, but have either swept under the carpet or buried  deep in the  recesses of our minds. It makes for challenging - sometimes uncomfortable - viewing, even in his lighter  films such as 8 Women (2002) and Swimming Pool (2003).

He's at it again with 5x2, the title of which comes from the film's premise: it's a look at five separate incidents in the lives of two people. And it's told in reverse,  so we begin with their divorce and we end with their first real meeting.

In between we get some idea  of the nature of these two characters - Marion (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) and Gilles (Stephane Freiss) - but not enough to really get under their skin. And that's the film's main and only  real failing: you never feel you know them enough to really care.

But it's almost impossible to tear your eyes from the screen. The film's reverse structure forces you  to connect the dots, to second  guess what's happening and why, simply because you don't know what's  gone on before, what has  led them to this.

Then there are the scenes themselves. Over the five episodes we get emotion writ large. And again, with Ozon, there are all those little things. At one stage, Gilles  starts spilling the beans about their life, spurred on in no small part by the revelations he has just heard from others. Maybe for that fact alone, this is a film  better seen by yourself.

5x2 opens today.

