It's been a hectic Sunday of blogging with, on the minus side film times foiling my hopes of seeing The Sitter but, on the plus side, taking in this Franglais film which isn't out until February 17.
Thankfully, Jake at Artificial Eye sent me an advanced DVD which allowed me to immerse myself in this curiosity.
Here, director Pawel Pawlikowski paints a portrait of a lost soul in the seedier side of Paris.
The fella in question is Ethan Hawke who plays a troubled American novelist who has moved to Paris to be near his six-year-old daughter.
The trouble is that his ex-wife nearly flips out when she sees him and calls the cops.
But that is far from the end of his misfortunes which see his living above a grotty little cafe in a room next door to a psychopath.
This is a quiet film but that doesn't stop Hawke achieving an iron grip on the audience. He relentlessly fights to see his daughter while, at the same time having a crack at another novel and becoming mixed up in a rather dodgy living.
As life throws giant hurdle after giant hurdle into his path, I felt myself willing him to beat the odds.
And then something remarkable happened which left me re-evaluating everything which I had previously seen.
The only wonder I had about The Woman In The Fifth was this. Would a penniless, whiskered misery really be able to lure one of the most attractive middle-aged women in the world (Kristin Scott Thomas) into bed, let alone a stunningly attractive young woman?
A Woman In The Fifth is not the sort of film I would normally go for. It's quiet and its ending is unsatisfactory but Hawke, who uses very proficient French for much of the movie, won me over.
Laughs: None
Jumps: One
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10
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