Woman in the Fifth 2011

     The French title is La femme du Verme .  Tom Ricks is an American writer arriving in Paris to try to reenter the lives of his wife and daughter.  His wife slams the door in his face and calls the police.  He quickly gets on a bus and he falls asleep.  At the end of the bus line, the driver wakes him up, he discovers his suitcase and most of his money are stolen.  He is in a barren industrial area of Paris but he finds a bar where he can order coffee with the last of his change.  He talks to the owner about staying in one of the rooms but he can’t pay right now.  The owner agrees and later gives him a strange job with an eight-hour shift.  He locks himself in a small room and determines if a visitor should be let in to see Mr. Monde.  He meets Ania at the bar and he meets Margit at a gathering for writers.

     There is a lot going on here that and we have questions but there are no answers?  Who is Mr. Monde, who are his visitors, is this an illegal or dangerous situation, Tom has a published novel but has no money or support system, what happened between Tom and his wife, why is he not allowed to see his daughter, Tom has a chance to write during his job shift but instead of working on a novel he writes long letters to his daughter.  Maybe the questions are more intriguing than the answers could ever be.  This film has a different conclusion than I expected which asks the viewer to set aside questions of impossibility?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

85 min, Drama directed by Pawel Pawlikowski with Ethan Hawke, Kristin Scott Thomas, Joanna Kulig, Samir Guesmi, Delphine Chuillot, Julie Papillon.

Note:  Imdb 5.1 out of 10, 63% critic 22% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*.

Special Note:  There is a wide variance in the review numbers for this film.  It must be a matter of taste or belief in the ending?  I don’t want to spoil watching this film by offering too much information.  Also, the neighborhoods of Paris are designated by numbers and in French they are called arondissements.  As indicated by the title, the woman lives in the fifth which would be the cinquieme arondissement.