This movie left me really thinking and intrigued. With the final scene of the happy couple entering the sea, you can only remain shocked at how something so beautiful could go so terribly wrong. The answers become more and more clear with each phase of their relationship, the 5 key phases of being two, as the director viewed it. Watching it again I can only notice how every detail is very carefully thought and adds up something more about the nature of the characters and the holes crumbling their relationship.
Going backwards from present to past through the phases of Marion and Giles' relation, from the divorce scene to the bright scene of the sea, the movie gets the viewer surprised and curious to discover what stands behind this painful failure. However, instead of leaving a bitter taste if all was chronological, the final contrast between what one sees and what one knows that happened is much more surprising and raises much more questions.
The beginning shows the painful end of Marion and Giles' marriage, how incredibly much they grew apart. They talk about things, and we can see the complex resentments, maybe even hatreds, that have grown up between them. Gilles seems incredibly insecure and frustrated, while Marion looks patient and resigned , but actually unburdened to get away from their disintegrating relation. Then as the film moves backward starting from the divorce scene there are several moments that show what went terribly wrong...the mistakes and faults each of them had made.
First comes the shocking confession Gilles makes in front of his brother and his boyfriend about the orgy he had joined, under the very eyes of his wife. The courage to do that and then the courage to tell the story in front of the other 3 looked so unbelievable, still they show the selfishness and hidden desires in Giles that were tearing their relationship. What I also found interesting in this scene is that the director doesn't actually see infidelity as a necessary cause of the problems. In the case of Giles'brother and his boyfriend trust, warmth and an open heart actually seem more important, and they're exactly the things that miss from Giles and Marion's relationship.
Then the day of their son's birth, Marion lies in the maternity ward, suffering, while Gilles stands outside smoking, afraid to face the reality of what is going on. Then, aware of his cowardice, makes excuses for not coming to see his wife.
Then his selfishness comes out again in the next scene, their wedding night. He falls asleep on the bed with little care, apparently half-drunk, while Marion was preparing for them to spend the night together. Marion resigns herself and goes outside for a walk, but in the night she meets a handsome American. The meeting though polite first almost turns into a rape, but though she could have avoided anything happening she gives in, without strength to control her desires.
After this scene the holes in their relation came out strikingly. It becomes apparent how each of them suffers from their own form of selfishness, of being coward. They're both incapable of fidelity, of giving themselves to the other with whole heart cause they're filled by doubt, by hidden desires, by insecurity.
The beginning of their relationship brings out even more clear all these fears. Marion is just coming out of a failed relationship and looking for affection, and Giles seems attracted by her insecurity and sweetness, because he was starting to feel insecure too with his partner. Both insecure and not ready to commit, but at the same time fearing to be alone, the very beginning of their relation seemed to start on the wrong foot.
Looking at the whole movie, it seems that what never worked in their relation was communication. Loving each other in their own selfish way, they are unable to be honest about their own faults and desires and unable to commit, fearing they won't get the same in return, while the space between them grows permanently.
After seeing the movie what intrigued me most was why each of them had become the way he was. What made them so unable to commit, him so selfish and her so patient and undetermined. Maybe the combination of their characters just brought out all their faults, maybe it was simply in their nature.
I think "5x2" manages to emphasize the key details which finally lead to a failed relationship in this story of a marriage that looks so painfully real. The depth of the characters and the realism of the plot made it for me one movie worth watching and remembering.
Going backwards from present to past through the phases of Marion and Giles' relation, from the divorce scene to the bright scene of the sea, the movie gets the viewer surprised and curious to discover what stands behind this painful failure. However, instead of leaving a bitter taste if all was chronological, the final contrast between what one sees and what one knows that happened is much more surprising and raises much more questions.
The beginning shows the painful end of Marion and Giles' marriage, how incredibly much they grew apart. They talk about things, and we can see the complex resentments, maybe even hatreds, that have grown up between them. Gilles seems incredibly insecure and frustrated, while Marion looks patient and resigned , but actually unburdened to get away from their disintegrating relation. Then as the film moves backward starting from the divorce scene there are several moments that show what went terribly wrong...the mistakes and faults each of them had made.
First comes the shocking confession Gilles makes in front of his brother and his boyfriend about the orgy he had joined, under the very eyes of his wife. The courage to do that and then the courage to tell the story in front of the other 3 looked so unbelievable, still they show the selfishness and hidden desires in Giles that were tearing their relationship. What I also found interesting in this scene is that the director doesn't actually see infidelity as a necessary cause of the problems. In the case of Giles'brother and his boyfriend trust, warmth and an open heart actually seem more important, and they're exactly the things that miss from Giles and Marion's relationship.
Then the day of their son's birth, Marion lies in the maternity ward, suffering, while Gilles stands outside smoking, afraid to face the reality of what is going on. Then, aware of his cowardice, makes excuses for not coming to see his wife.
Then his selfishness comes out again in the next scene, their wedding night. He falls asleep on the bed with little care, apparently half-drunk, while Marion was preparing for them to spend the night together. Marion resigns herself and goes outside for a walk, but in the night she meets a handsome American. The meeting though polite first almost turns into a rape, but though she could have avoided anything happening she gives in, without strength to control her desires.
After this scene the holes in their relation came out strikingly. It becomes apparent how each of them suffers from their own form of selfishness, of being coward. They're both incapable of fidelity, of giving themselves to the other with whole heart cause they're filled by doubt, by hidden desires, by insecurity.
The beginning of their relationship brings out even more clear all these fears. Marion is just coming out of a failed relationship and looking for affection, and Giles seems attracted by her insecurity and sweetness, because he was starting to feel insecure too with his partner. Both insecure and not ready to commit, but at the same time fearing to be alone, the very beginning of their relation seemed to start on the wrong foot.
Looking at the whole movie, it seems that what never worked in their relation was communication. Loving each other in their own selfish way, they are unable to be honest about their own faults and desires and unable to commit, fearing they won't get the same in return, while the space between them grows permanently.
After seeing the movie what intrigued me most was why each of them had become the way he was. What made them so unable to commit, him so selfish and her so patient and undetermined. Maybe the combination of their characters just brought out all their faults, maybe it was simply in their nature.
I think "5x2" manages to emphasize the key details which finally lead to a failed relationship in this story of a marriage that looks so painfully real. The depth of the characters and the realism of the plot made it for me one movie worth watching and remembering.