The Lady within the Fifth ((La Femme du 5e))

An ATO Pictures (in U.S.) discharge of a Haut et Court and Film4 presentation, in colaboration with U.K. Film Council, of the co-production with SPI Intl. Belgium and also the Bureau, using the participation of Canal Plus, Orange Cinema Series, Haut et Court Distribution, Artificial Eye, in colaboration with Reminder Films Intl., Coficup -- Backup Films, La Banque Postale Image 4, Soficinema 6, Polish Film Institute, using the support of I2I, a Media Program from the Eu, developed using the support of Cofinova 2. (Worldwide sales: Reminder Films Intl., Paris.) Created by Caroline Benjo, Carole Scotta. Executive producer, Tessa Ross. Co-producers, Piotr Reisch, Soledad Gatti-Pascual. Directed, compiled by Pawel Pawlikowski, in line with the novel by Douglas Kennedy.Tom - Ethan HawkeMargit - Kristin Scott ThomasAnia - Joanna KuligSezer - Samir GuesmiA story rife with alienation, paranoia and intimations of madness feels pretty fifth-rate in "The Lady within the Fifth," Pawel Pawlikowski's disappointing follow-as much as 2004's "My Summer time of affection.Inch The Roman Polanski of 3 decades ago may have made something correctly devious and unsettling using this moribund Euro thriller, occur among the uglier visions of Paris to sophistication the screen, where an unsatisfied American author (Ethan Hawke) comes underneath the spell of the mysterious siren (Kristin Scott Thomas). Arthouse audiences are unlikely to become similarly bewitched, though cast names and Pawlikowski's repetition assure some commercial profile worldwide. Modified by Pawlikowski from the novel by American author Douglas Kennedy, the film stays nearly every scene in the organization of Tom Ricks (Hawkes), a united states professor and novelist that has arrived at Paris to fix relations together with his embittered wife, Nathalie (Delphine Chuillot), and reunite using their youthful daughter, Chloe (Julie Papillon). Spurned by Nathalie and conned of his possessions a short while later, Tom ends up in a squalid hotel run through the shady Sezer (Samir Guesmi), who gives him a brief job like a evening watchman in a nearby warehouse in return for room and board. Attending a nearby literary gathering, Tom meets the elegant Margit (Scott Thomas), a translator who lives within the city's fifth arrondissement. Margit takes him to mattress and encourages the reawakening of his talents, that have lain dormant because the publication of his first and just novel. But as Tom soon realizes, his new muse's techniques of creative inspiration exceed the strictly sexual. Soon he's lost inside a waking nightmare communicated none too creepily towards the audience through hallucinatory shots of moving bugs and what appears like a red-colored-hooded girl laying unconscious inside a forest glade. Tom's possible descent into madness possibly describes why he does not choose to solve his problems in additional practical ways -- getting money wired to him in the States, for example, and therefore avoid the requirement to fall along with harmful thugs. An O. Henry-ant twist basically exposes the storyline being an empty tease, a fire tale spun to a tiresome and stilted 83 minutes. Frowning from behind thick-rimmed glasses, Hawke has rarely looked more nebbishy onscreen than he is doing here, and the clenched, sour attitude does not lead him to especially rewarding company. Nor does he generate intense sparks with Scott Thomas, who's fine because the figurative spider spinning a most enticing web. Among all of the filth and murk, Joanna Kulig radiates hope and lightweight like a friendly Polish barmaid whom Tom evolves a desire for, while Guesmi's Sezer cuts a suavely menacing figure. The proceedings aren't with no certain humor, a lot of it stemming from Tom's uncomfortable interactions with fellow hotel guest Omar (Mamadou Minte), whose refusal to purge the communal toilet turns into a plot reason for some importance. Ryszard Lenczewski's lensing attempts to produce a hazy, dreamlike mood with blurred shots of near-empty roads and also the backs of characters' heads. Except for Tom and Margit's meeting on the roof terrace close to the Eiffel Tower, Paris is built to look almost completely uninviting, which will be a dubious achievement even just in a far more satisfying thriller than that one.Camera (color), Ryszard Lenczewski editor, David Charap music, Max p Wardener music supervisor, Francois Dru production designer, Benoit Barouh art director, Christophe Couzon set decorator, Devi Tirouvanziam costume designers, Julian Day, Shaida Day seem, Nicolas Cantin re-recording mixer, Jean-Pierre Laforce visual effects supervisor, Cedric Fayolle visual effects, Mikros Image line producer, Barbara Letellier connect producer, Simon Arnal assistant director/second unit director, Nicolas Cambois casting, Stephane Batut, Alexandre Nazarian. Examined at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 12, 2011. Running time: 83 MIN.With: Delphine Chuillot, Julie Papillon, Geoffrey Carey, Mamadou Minte. (British, French, Polish dialogue) Contact Justin Chang at justin.chang@variety.com