Ethan Hawke plays Tom, a broke novelist (is there any other sort?) who moves to Paris in the hopes of reuniting with his estranged daughter, but instead gets tangled up with several mysterious sorts, not least of whom is Margit (Kristin Scott Thomas), the archetypal beautiful stranger, and her dual opposite Ania (Joanna Kulig), a sweet Polish waitress. Emotions will be implied, resolutions will be unresolved, and pseudo-philosophical underpinnings will be give free rein. Yes folks, it’s that sorta movie.
The Woman In The Fifth is the sort of movie that’s likely to leave audiences in an ambivalent state: on one hand, the build up is stellar, Ethan Hawke puts in a nuanced, subtle performance, and the emotional depth of the movie is undeniable. Director Pawel Pawlikowski trains an intense gaze on Tom’s interaction with others, lending the film a dream-like quality that’s opaque and yet filled with meaning, like a Rorschach blot test. At the same time, one wonders if The Woman In The Fifth‘s introspective focus on character-driven premise over conventional narrative would have been better served in its original novel format, rather than as a filmic endeavour.
The Woman in The Fifth sets up a great atmosphere of foreboding, but is unlikely to pay off most movie lovers; undoubtedly, many will find the last bits of the film perplexing, if not downright frustrating. Those who enjoy leaps of illogic and slightly surreal, inexplicably linked events may dig this one…but then again, if that’s up your alley, you may be better served reading a Murakami novel.
Summary: Intriguingly anti-climatic, and may not play well with others.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
Raphael Lim