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The Woman in the Fifth [DVD]

1 disc
Region Free (info)

A writer stranded in Paris falls into a strange relationship with a mysterious woman in this drama from writer and director Pawel Pawlikowski. Tom Ricks (Ethan Hawke) is an American novelist who has been wrestling with writers' block since the publication of his first book. Tom is married to Nathalie (Delphine Chuillot) but their relationship has taken a turn for the worse, and after she goes home to France with their daughter Chloe (Julie Papillon) in tow, Tom flies there in hopes of reconciling with her. However, Tom is robbed shortly after arriving, and is stuck with no money and nowhere to go. He is befriended by Sezer (Samir Guesmi), who gives him a job as a night watchman and a room in a cheap hotel, but for all his generosity, Tom isn't sure he trusts his benefactor. He then meets Margit (Kristin Scott Thomas), a beautiful woman with a literary bent, and ends up spending the night with her. But what begins as a passing fling takes on a more sinister cast as Margit sends Tom through a series of increasingly bizarre experiences in the interest of reawakening his muse. LA FEMME DU 5E (aka THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH) received its North American debut at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.
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Credits

Ethan Hawke, Kristin, Scott Thomas, Joanna Kulig, Samir Guesmi, Delphine Chuillot, Julie Papillon
Critic Reviews

3 stars out of 5 -- "Aided by dreamlike lensing and a raft of enigmatic supporting characters, writer/director Pawel Pawlikowski seeks to channel the paranoid spirit of early Polanski..."
Total Film
"The plot of this subdued thriller about an unraveling American novelist in the City Of Light is heavy on mood....[Pawlikowski] creates a nice sense of paranoia and multicultural bewilderment..." -- Grade: B-
Entertainment Weekly
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Something is going on, and as the movie continues, we become more alert to signals from beneath the surface....So much depends here on the Ethan Hawke performance."
Chicago Sun-Times