5x2

5x2 contains five scenes, of almost identical length, shown in a reverse chronological way, from the life of a couple (that's where the title comes from). It is very well written and exceptionally well acted but somehow it didn't really work. The backward storytelling idea was nice and it did create a great effect. It starts with divorce and a rape scene, not explicit but all the more violent, and ends with the couple falling in love and walking into the sunset! The main flaw I thought, and I also think it might be intentional on writer's/director's part, was that the narrative didn't convey any significant information and barely hinted at the inner life of the characters, so all the while you can only guess as to why all this is happening and the two people remain a mystery throughout. Still, their faces and mannerisms are so expressive that you get an impression that indeed a lot is happening inside.

This new york times review notes (and I loved this sentence), "told in the usual sequence, the story of Gilles and Marion would be a banal bell curve of infatuation, bliss, boredom, regret and recrimination."

Two excellent reviews worth checking out, even if you haven't seen the film -- at the village voice and the guardian. They were both very impressed with it.

And yes, the film has an excellent soundtrack, specially this song (in Italian) which I found on the youtube. After some googling I came to know that the song is called The Sparrring Partner written and performed by Paolo Conte, whose name I hadn't heard before. The video contains some homosexual cuddling, otherwise it is pretty chaste. Just in case...