Woman in the Fifth 2011

     The French title is La femme du Veme.  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 gone.  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 but takes his passport and later gives him a strange job with an eight-hour shift.  Tom 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 and there are questions but there are no answers?  Who is Mr. Monde, who are the men visiting him, is this an illegal or dangerous situation.  Tom has a published novel but he 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 the question of improbability?  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 5.4 out of 10, 62% critic 22% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, The Telegraph 4* out of 5*, Metacritic 57 out of 100 with 18 critics, Slant Magazine 3* out of 4, Amazon 3.2* out of 5* with 36 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in 131 Rue des Poissonniers, 142 Boulevard Pereire, Paris 17, Rue de L’Ourcq, Paris, France.  There is a wide variance in the review numbers for this film?  It must be a matter of taste or possibly belief in the ending?  I don’t want to spoil the enjoyment of this film by offering too much information.  Also, numbers designate the neighborhoods of Paris and in French they are called arondissements.  As indicated by the title, the woman lives in the fifth neighborhood and that would be the cinquieme arondissement.  

Additional Note:  I thought Hawke did a very good job speaking French.  I think it’s a very difficult language and you need to use and study it every day to really be able to speak fluently with the French people.  They appreciate it when you try, many speak English and they will go out of their way to help you.  Some people from the United States have lived in France for years and they will also help Americans with the language.  Despite their immersion in the community, sometimes they still have complications with the language.