San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
‘Five Times Two’ tells marriage story in reverse
“Five Times Two” played in a handful of theaters in the United States and is one of the most insightful films about marriage made in this millennium.
It stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Stephane Freiss as a married couple whose divorce is being finalized in the opening scene. Directed by François Ozon, the film takes place in five sections; in each, the movie goes further back in time. So, the next section shows the marriage in trouble. Later we see their elaborate wedding and wedding night, followed by a section in which the two meet.
Before a section in which the couple was supposed to be five years younger, Ozon stopped production for three months so the cast could diet and appear younger in the scenes. What’s remarkable about this movie is how it manages to arrive at a climax in which much is revealed, even though the story goes back in time.
“Five Times Two”: Rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video.