There seems to be two very distinct arcs to the career of Francois Ozon. On the one hand, we have a cinema of reference, with films like Sitcom (1998), Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000) and 8 Women (2002) taking influence from the disparate likes of Buñuel, Fassbinder, Sirk and Minnelli. On the other hand we have a cinema of examination, with projects like Under the Sand (2000), Swimming Pool (2003) and 5x2 (2004) looking at characters trapped-insect like beneath a distancing sheet of glass and dealing exclusively with heavily-wrought personal issues devoid of the more obvious fun and frivolity. X 2000 (1998), an eight minute project about time, perspective and pre-millennium tensions, would seem to be closer in tone to the latter approach; with the sense of wit and humour of some of the director's more colourful works being replaced by an almost Haneke-like feeling of cold, clinical abstraction.
At the minimal eight minutes in length this is obviously something that will be seen, quite rightly, as a vague sketch of a work; one that feels unfinished and unfocused or indeed, as an early experiment into the same thematic territory of Swimming Pool and 5x2. The plot, as discussed by other reviewers, is slight to the point of seeming nonexistence; a vague accumulation of scenes intended to create a greater whole, as opposed to a sense of cohesion. It does tell a story, though one that remains indistinct and enigmatic; entirely undone by the subtly of Ozon's direction and the broad opportunities of interpretation offered by the particular use of iconography. In my mind, it is a film about looking and seeing. Or not seeing? Regardless, there is an interesting germ of an idea presented in this short film wherein the central character looks without necessarily intending to look, and discovers things. In the first instance, there's the sight of a women bathing from his apartment window. In the second, he discovered a colony of ants in his kitchen.
Alongside these images there are allusions to the constant sex and death motif, with naked forms in a still and silent embrace, and further ideas of cleansing, confusion, freedom and alienation. These issues are conflicting and contradictory, thrown together in a jumble but clearly leading to something with meaning. Perhaps all of this is pointing towards the kind of revelations eventually discovered in a film like Swimming Pool, with its notions of sight and perception, seeing without looking, looking without finding, etc. Again, at eight minutes, X 2000 is far too slight to really dig any deeper or find the answers that we're looking for, but regardless, there's something undeniable fascinating about the film and about the way in which Ozone has carefully put it together.
At the minimal eight minutes in length this is obviously something that will be seen, quite rightly, as a vague sketch of a work; one that feels unfinished and unfocused or indeed, as an early experiment into the same thematic territory of Swimming Pool and 5x2. The plot, as discussed by other reviewers, is slight to the point of seeming nonexistence; a vague accumulation of scenes intended to create a greater whole, as opposed to a sense of cohesion. It does tell a story, though one that remains indistinct and enigmatic; entirely undone by the subtly of Ozon's direction and the broad opportunities of interpretation offered by the particular use of iconography. In my mind, it is a film about looking and seeing. Or not seeing? Regardless, there is an interesting germ of an idea presented in this short film wherein the central character looks without necessarily intending to look, and discovers things. In the first instance, there's the sight of a women bathing from his apartment window. In the second, he discovered a colony of ants in his kitchen.
Alongside these images there are allusions to the constant sex and death motif, with naked forms in a still and silent embrace, and further ideas of cleansing, confusion, freedom and alienation. These issues are conflicting and contradictory, thrown together in a jumble but clearly leading to something with meaning. Perhaps all of this is pointing towards the kind of revelations eventually discovered in a film like Swimming Pool, with its notions of sight and perception, seeing without looking, looking without finding, etc. Again, at eight minutes, X 2000 is far too slight to really dig any deeper or find the answers that we're looking for, but regardless, there's something undeniable fascinating about the film and about the way in which Ozone has carefully put it together.