Exudes hitchcockian flair and mystery


Just in time for father's day, pawel pawlikowski's"The woman in the fifth",A tender if jarring chronicleAbout fathersAnd daughters which opened todayAt the San Francisco Film Society Cinema isA thriller told either:A) through the eyes ofA dead man, or, b)A Hitchcockian dramaAbout mental illnessAnd distortion, or, c)A filmAboutAn unreliable narrator. TheAnswer lies somewhere in the three choices.Mr.Pawlikowski's film is based on douglas kennedy's novel of the same name. He will soon lose his luggageAnd grip on realityAs he stumbles throughA cleverly staged noir byMr.Pawlikowski, who wrote the screenplay. David Charap's editing offers glimpses of the reality that surrounds the troubled Tom,A man prone to outbursts. Tom was sick in hospital, he tells Chloe, bristlingAt the notion he was in prison. With no money Tom staysAtA dank, squalid Parisian hostel ownedAnd inhabited by some shady types.

The equilibrium of tom is further challenged when margit(Kristin scott thomas), a mysterious, apparition like figure in black, saunters and floats through a room of people.She knows a lot about tom, and may have a thing or two in common with him.Arresting, highly attractive and sensual as a muse like margit, ms.Thomas adds layers of intrigue, suspense and keeps you guessing.Her eyes show and hide so much at the same time, and though her character is essentially a one note player supplied as a vehicle to move along an otherwise unremarkable film, ms.Thomas, whose margit wears red or black only, lends great weight and value. "You don't know what you're capable of,"She tells tom, who lapses into periods of dream fantasy.Unfortunately"The woman in the fifth"Doesn't know what to do with margit, particularly in its final, disappointing few minutes.

Symbolically, and in its atmosphere"The woman in the fifth"Works fairly well up to a point as an effectual drama, even if it verges on stylistic overkill and self conscious overtures to the master of suspense.A frequently glimpsed owl appears to be a mediator of truth.Eyeglasses, mirrors, and glass are often tilted.Tom's ray ban eyeglasses are situated slightly awkwardly on his face.These prisms of refraction and clarity are sometimes obfuscated and blurred just enough, as is the first image of the film, which perhaps holds the clues to its entireity.

Mr.Pawlikowski isn't short on artistic flair, nor does he shy away from showing us that he's a learned student of mr.Hitchcock and ingmar bergman, among others.Yet other than its setting and scenery there's little else with which to wow us.That's a shame, because there's decent acting from the sincere, self serious and ponderous mr.Hawke, speaking fluent french as tom, a man wandering through the murky, make believe novel in his own mind.

Tom wants to believe he's a saint, a good father and husband, but the subtleties and not so subtle aspects of"The woman in the fifth"Appear to indicate otherwise.Is tom dead?Is he a murderer?Is he a tragic figure? "Everything i touch i destroy,"Tom says at one point.He narrates letters he writes to chloe but the voice tom reads in sounds vaguely regretful.Tom continuously views chloe through bars and his own fanciful imagination.

Mr.Hawke's work is far better here than in"Taking lives", an Andrew Davis film of a few years ago that starred Angelina Jolie.There are similarities in the films, though there's a ghoulish, cartoonish aspect to mr.Davis' film that surpasses anything in"The woman in the fifth", a film that is careful, curious and calculating.

With:Joanna kulig, samir guesmi, delphine chuillot, julie papillon, mamadou mint.

"The woman in the fifth"Is rated r by the motion picture association of america for some sexual content, language and violent images.The film is in english and french languages with english subtitles.The film's running time is one hour and 23 minutes.

For more of omar's film stories, movie reviews and interviews visit his popcorn reel website and watch his unscripted film reviews on youtube.Follow him on twitter.

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