The Woman in the Fifth (2012)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

good back-story, and good acting

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A Haunting Enigma of a Film where there are no easy answers, but they are there if you look and listen closely, that is filled with Ugly and Beautiful images suggesting a Schizophrenic impression of Life. Illustrating that, in effect, perception and point of view is all in the Mind.This is Creepy and Complex and is not an easy decipher, like Psychoanalysis it may take some time to penetrate its Secrets and uncover the Pathology. It is intriguing, but not always Fun discovering the ambiguous layers in this Movie with its decidedly Euro feeling. Through the glasses darkly.It is Cerebral Cinema for those wanting that sort of thing. Upon reflection it is much more than the initial Viewing would suggest and would seem to invite a second look. Obviously not for everyone, but those willing to take chances and explore the wide range of Experiences that Movies have to offer, this is a good one. Ethan Hawke shows some disciplined range and the Foreign Director may pick up a few American admirers with this Artistic Vision.

I regret wasting my time on watching this pretense of a movie. It's so slow, extremely boring, and absolutely pointless. It's starts out as something that could be interestingly developed, but that doesn't happen. A typical example of a movie that could've been, but alas it wasn't. Various subplots in the end either get lost or are left unexplained and underdeveloped. Watching absent-minded Ethan Hawke in a coat for 80 minutes -- that's pretty much this movie is. Granted that the two female leads (Kristen Scott Thomas and Joanna Kulig) looked good and acted well, but that's not enough. Especially in the case of Kristen Scott Thomas's character -- I mean seriously, what the heck was that about?

One of the first things one must examine of him/herself Immediately after a film ends; e.g., as the credits roll, is, "Am I moved and, if the answer is yes, how so?". Don't ask yourself, "Should I decide to like or dislike this film?". Don't just decide whether you had fun or not. Rather, take a "gut check" to examine whether or not you perceive an experience that is going to stay with you awhile, maybe bug and/or annoy you, but definitely haunt you for a period.I'm guessing not too many films may do such to the average person. TWITF surely did such for me. I've as many questions and, yes, frustrations, that many of the other COMMENTERS herein have, even the people who gave TWITF one star. But I've still got that gut reaction that this movie will linger we me a long time and linger in my top 50 film list. Maybe it's the acting alone, though probably it all the stuff that make movies good; i.e., photography, directing, dialog, etc. Dunno. Don't care.Maybe the plot and intentions are truly nonsense. Doesn't matter. I'm amazed and intrigued. It's hard to get me amazed and intrigued. And I LIKE being amazed and intrigued. Films like AVATAR can razzle dazzle me with eye candy and, yes, I'll keep coming back for more such sweets. But I like better the part of my brain that buzzes after seeing films like TWITF.

Before I watched this movie I was warned about all the unanswered questions that many reviews had mentioned. And there surely are lots of unanswered questions and an incomplete feeling. But I think I get it - it's told from the point of view of a schizophrenic person and ONLY his point of view. And for that it is actually quite good.Everything isn't neatly explained at the end - but it doesn't really need to be. In life you don't really get to see things from all points of view anyway. What is hinted at is good enough. Of course it would have been more satisfying to have explanatory sequences or flashbacks to show how the murder took place or how the fantasy of Kristin Scott Thomas's character evolved. Or how his daughter was taken and released.The acting is fine. Ethan Hawke is quite good in this complex role. He's a bit gaunt and disheveled but that's the role. Kristin is stylishly alluring. Liked the twist that the minorities who seem menacing are actually not the real terror.The unresolved issues might put many off and hurt its box office. So might the rather ugly portrayal of Paris. But overall I think it is worth a watch if you bear in mind the unique point of view and the incompleteness is deliberate.