Tom Ricks (Ethan Hawke) is an American novelist who goes to Paris in hopes of patching up his relationship with his ex-wife (Delphine Chuillot) and daughter (Julie Papillon). She wants nothing to do with him because of some event in their past, which is not fully explained. Through a series of bad luck he ends up working for a man named Sezer (Samir Guesmi) as a night time doorman, a job steeped with symbolism as he works on his second novel.
Meanwhile, Tom meets a mysterious older woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) who has taken a shine to him. She is the "Woman in the Fifth." He begins an affair with her about the same time he takes up with Sezer's girlfriend, his "Polish muse" (Joanna Kulig). We don't know how weird things really are until near the end of the tale.
If I told you I understood everything in this film, I would be lying. There is symbolism in his forest writing, the bugs, and the light which dims and goes bright, none of which I fully understood. Then there is the weird aspect of the movie which turns this into an existential film, something I didn't fully comprehend. I didn't think it was worth watching a second time through in an attempt to make heads or tails out of the film.
This is an artsy film. It is in part in English and French with subtitles, and Polish with no subtitles. The action moves slow as it concentrates on the character of Tom Ricks. I am looking for a good plot spoiler review to tell me what I just watched.
Parental Guide: F-bomb (in French, spelled correctly for us in English), sex, no nudity.
Meanwhile, Tom meets a mysterious older woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) who has taken a shine to him. She is the "Woman in the Fifth." He begins an affair with her about the same time he takes up with Sezer's girlfriend, his "Polish muse" (Joanna Kulig). We don't know how weird things really are until near the end of the tale.
If I told you I understood everything in this film, I would be lying. There is symbolism in his forest writing, the bugs, and the light which dims and goes bright, none of which I fully understood. Then there is the weird aspect of the movie which turns this into an existential film, something I didn't fully comprehend. I didn't think it was worth watching a second time through in an attempt to make heads or tails out of the film.
This is an artsy film. It is in part in English and French with subtitles, and Polish with no subtitles. The action moves slow as it concentrates on the character of Tom Ricks. I am looking for a good plot spoiler review to tell me what I just watched.
Parental Guide: F-bomb (in French, spelled correctly for us in English), sex, no nudity.