The Woman in the Fifth

2011 [FRENCH]

Action / Drama / Mystery / Thriller

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 22% · 58 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 22% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 5.3/10 10 7401 7.4K

waitress paris, france widow poetry letter writer

Plot summary

An American writer moves to Paris to be closer to his daughter and finds himself falling immediately on hard times.

Director

Pawel Pawlikowski Photo
Pawel Pawlikowski

Top cast

Ethan Hawke Photo
Ethan Hawke as Tom Ricks
Kristin Scott Thomas Photo
Kristin Scott Thomas as Margit
Geoffrey Carey Photo
Geoffrey Carey as Laurent
Anne Benoît Photo
Anne Benoît as Teacher
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
767.85 MB
1280*682
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 23 min
Seeds ...
1.54 GB
1920*1024
French 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 23 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by napierslogs 5 / 10

An off-beat thriller delving into the crime world of reality and fantasy almost impossible to understand

"The Woman in the Fifth" throws us into the middle of the story. Seemingly a perfect way to start, a back-story is implied begging to be told, and future events destined to unfold to eventually come together in an interesting climax and dénouement. But the back-story never was revealed and the plot elements are indiscernible to the average eye.Tom (Ethan Hawke) is an American writer moving to Paris. His first novel was a moderate success and he is most likely suffering from various creative blocks, probably not helped by the fact that his ex-wife has a restraining order against him, prohibiting him from seeing his daughter. At this point, we are driven into a world of crime – not surprising for a thriller, but we don't know what crimes yet. Broke and alone, Tom makes a deal with a shady "businessman", develops an affair with a mysterious worldly woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) and then develops an affair with a sweetly mysterious waitress (Joanna Kulig).For the few crimes that we do know were committed, it's awfully hard to understand why or by whom. The reality of the film and the imagination (or fantasy) element of the film are most likely impossible to separate. Almost all viewers have come up with different explanations, if they came up with any.It can be interesting watching a jarring film and deduce whatever explanation you like. It can also be disappointing if you don't come up with any explanation that you like. I'm afraid I fall into the latter group.That being said, it's nice seeing Ethan Hawke in a lead role in an indie. And speaking French no less (not perfectly, but it fits the role)! The imagery and cinematography chosen for this film were interesting and walked the thin line between thriller and horror, helped along with a slightly off-beat score. "The Woman in the Fifth" is off- beat, if it's anything at all.
Reviewed by Waerdnotte 6 / 10

What Was That All About?

Well, it depends whether you think it really matters. The film works well as a dark and mysterious European thriller for the first two acts, but collapses in a series of unresolved dead ends in the third and final act. Ethan Hawke is excellent as the shabby, messed up novelist Tom Ricks, and KST vamps it up as his imaginary lover, but she really doesn't get enough screen time. The story is an enigma, the end suggests (and I haven't read the novel) that much of what has occurred is a figment of Ricks' psychosis. We know he's probably been in prison or hospital (or both) and Hawke plays him as a man on the edge, with his rage bubbling under all the time. But what is Ricks' reality is impossible to say by the end as nothing really makes sense, as there is no real denouement to the story - there is no final resolution or clarification of what has gone on or what is going on.An interesting Euro Thriller which ultimately does not satisfy.
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