X2000 (1998)

Multiple Views of Why Francois Ozon is a Fine Director

X2000 ('Scenes de lit') is a pastiche of the short films made by Francois Ozon before and during the year 1998. The excellent collection offers tangible proof that Ozon's gifts were well established in short stories before he tackled the important films he has produced to date: 'Swimming Pool', 'Under the Sand', '8 Women', '5X2', 'Water Drops on Burning Rocks', etc. The man has vision, courage in tackling taboo subjects, and a style that remains his own.

'Truth or Dare' is a brief 4 minutes of play among four youngsters (two boys, two girls) who test the limits of fantasy and sexual exploration and the fun little game ends with a most touching 'dare'. 'Little Death' is the longest of the works (and the most engaging) and introduces Paul (Francois Delaive), a gay photographer whose images are those of men's faces during climax, and his lover Martial (Martial Jacques) whose lives are disrupted by Paul's sister Camille (Camille Japy) demanding that Paul visit his estranged, dying father (Michel Beaujard). Paul does so but takes his camera and photographs the nude, near comatose father in a sort of revenge that results in his ultimate resolution of his years of distance.

The next set of very brief clips is entitled 'Bedtime Stories' and is a wonderful glimpse into moments of truth between couples dealing with nascent sexuality, fetishes, May/September encounters, hygiene dilemmas equally spaced among straight, gay and lesbian themes. And the final brief film 'X2000' is merely a millennium dawn with a nude man awakening to the detritus of a New Year's party which includes an aging corpulent bedmate, some voyeurism watching a couple at sexual play and another couple (twin men) sleeping in a zipped bag. It is simple but resounds with messages about the expectations versus findings of a new millennium.

The 64-minute film stands well on its own, but for those who have become fans of Francois Ozon's brilliant full-length films, this little plate of hors d'oeuvres is irresistible. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, June 06
June 8, 2006

Four Films with Ten Ideas

"The Collected Shorts of Francois Ozon: X 2000" bundles together four early, short films by the famed director. The DVD comes with no extras and with no chapter titles. When the fourth film is over, the first film starts over.

The first film is "Truth or Dare" ["Action Verite"], which shows two teen-age boys and two teen-age girls playing truth or dare. They target sex questions and dares involving kissing and touching. Then one dare produces a big surprise. (4 minutes) 3+ stars.

The second film is the best. "Little Death" [a poor translation of "La Petite Mort"; maybe "Post-Orgasm" is closer] stars Francois Delaive as Paul, a gay photographer estranged from his father and living with lover Martial (played by Martial Jacques). Paul likes to take pictures of men at sexual climax. Paul's sister Camille (played by Camille Japy) gets Paul to visit his dying father (played by Michel Beaujard). When Paul arrives, his father does not recognize him. Paul returns later to take pictures. After the father dies, Camille brings Paul some of his father's own photos. The film has a good emotional resolution. (24 minutes) Four stars.

The third film, "Bed Scenes" on the back of the DVD or "Bedtime Stories" in the film ["Scenes de lit"] presents seven very short bed scenes with different actors for each. Issues of trust, cleanliness, age differences, foreplay, transference, self-absorption, and experimentation appear, as do straight, gay, and lesbian behaviors. (25 minutes) Some are 3 stars and some are 4.

The fourth film, "X 2000", shows the morning after the 2000 New Year, many flights up in a residential suite. A nude man (played by Bruno Slagmulder) gets out of bed to get a hangover remedy. The nude women he is with (played by Denise Schropfer Aron) gets up later to take a languid bath. The man notices two young shirtless twin men sleeping in a sleeping bag, a nude couple having sex a few stories down in a neighboring building, and ants feasting on party left-overs. The man goes back to the woman, who asks what's up and is told that ants are attacking. (8 minutes) I could see this as a transition scene in a larger piece but not as a stand-alone. High 2/ low 3 stars.

It's good to gather all these scraps together. There are frequent skin scenes. "The Little Death" is very good movie. Fans of Jeremy Elkaim ("Come Undone") and Loie Even will be happy. I still recommend "Criminal Lovers" by Francois Ozon. May 17, 2004

ok

Well, being a huge fan of francois ozon I had to check this one out. All the short films are great but unfortunately the DVD format on this one sucks. You actually have to sit thru the whole thing and can't just skip around like the way you should on a DVD. This is almost like owning the VHS version.
Otherwise it's good. November 16, 2003

Great early works by a newly minted master

These were really fun to watch. Some are funny, some are daring, all of them original. Ozon's sensibility is indeed very clever. I especially loved the first short which involves an explosive game of spin the bottle among four teens. October 15, 2001

Amazing!!

This is an amazing shorts collection from one on France's best young directors. They're smart, sad, funny, sexy and each short has the emotional impact of a feature film. Especially Little Death. With UNDER THE SAND, Ozon gets better and better with the seeds of genius clearly apparent in these short masterpieces! July 12, 2001

More reviews at Amazon.com ...