The Woman in the Fifth (La femme du Vème)

2011
France / Poland / UK
1h 25min
15

Directed by: Pawel Pawlikowski
Written by: Pawel Pawlikowski, Douglas Kennedy
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Kristin Scott Thomas, Joanna Kulig
UK release: 17 February 2012

Writer Tom (Hawke, understated) arrives in Paris to build bridges with his estranged family, but then his life falls apart – until he meets Margit (Scott Thomas). Some films err by spelling everything out, but Pawlikowski's elegant but baffling feature doesn't offer enough; despite elements of absurdist humour, it's underdeveloped, incomplete and unpersuasive.