The plot is simple, subdued, sexy and unravels slowly, with all those European beats only a foreign film can achieve. It’s the tale of an American professor/novelist (Ethan Hawke). He’s moved to Paris to be close to his estranged wife and daughter, Chloe, but that’s just not working. As though being ousted by his ex isn’t enough, he’s robbed, and he’s apparently dumb, too….because he’s given his passport to a frightening man who promises him lodging at 30 euros a night in some slumhole. In exchange, and if he wants the passport back, he must guard a room in the middle of nowhere that allows entrance to thugs but only if they know the password. “I see weird people.” This is when paranoia, fear and analyzing his self-worth creep into this his world, exploring the many emotions a writer might go through in his daily life, funneling the best into the pages he’ll write.
Enter the alluring sexy woman in the Fifth (Kristin Scott Thomas) who provocatively lures him into her world both sexy and maternal. An artist afterall, need love in order to create, and she sees his weakness. And she’s got plenty to fulfill. Scott Thomas is the perfect actress as always, managing to convey self-containment while at the same time spilling herself out onto the screen into some viewer’s orgy-like feast. Three and a half tiaras