Directed by Franíƒ §ois Ozon. Starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Stéphane Freiss. In French with English subtitles. Rated 18A. Opens Friday, July 1, at Cinemark Tinseltown

5x2 begins with a notably ugly post-marital sexual encounter and concludes with a pre-carnal romantic interlude on a dusky Italian beach. Because the lovers are the same in each instance, director Franíƒ §ois Ozon is clearly following in filmmaker Gaspar Noé's Irréversible footsteps, telling a story from sad ending to happy beginning.

Generally not well-received in France, this study of a failed marriage prompted Cahiers du cinéma critic Emmanuel Burdeau, in a particularly unkind moment, to wonder in print if Ozon "wasn't seriously arguing in favour of homosexuality for everybody".

Because the husband's gay brother (Antoine Chappey) doesn't seem to be any better off on the romantic front than his straight sibling, Burdeau's suggestion is obviously as unfounded as it is ignominious. Nevertheless, 5x2 must have struck some kind of nerve to have produced so spiteful an outburst.

In all probability, it has something to do with the perception of such promising romantic possibilities ending up as so much agony, loneliness, and resentment. Ultimately, marriage, commitment, and even childbirth are not enough to keep a hurt relationship from crashing in flames if damage control is not attempted at the proper time.

As the mismatched lovers, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Stéphane Freiss are admirably matched. The fact that Gilles is fussier than Marion speaks volumes about their basic incompatibility, as do his silence and occasional but disastrous emotional and physical absences. Nevertheless, for all the havoc that his weakness wreaks, it is Marion who commits the first major breach of trust, albeit one that would not have happened if Gilles hadn't fallen asleep at the worst possible time.

In interviews, Ozon has stated that he was inspired to make this film about the basic instability of the couple under the twin hammer blows of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage and its even rawer follow-up, Saraband.

Inspired he might well have been by these features, but 5x2 still unfolds in the filmmaker's own unique style (which is saying something, because virtually all his movies are a kind of homage to one cineaste or another).

What is perhaps most effective about 5x2 (a title, incidentally, that refers to the film's five chapters and double perspective) is its incredibly sexy score, consisting mainly of Latin slow-dance rhythms that play both with and against the romantic-antiromantic currents they augment (so even if you hate the movie, you'll want to buy the soundtrack CD).

The fact is, though, that you probably won't hate 5x2, except insofar as it reminds you of your own steps not taken or mistaken on the romantic road of life.