Review of The Woman in the Fifth (2011) by Rob L — 16 Aug 2012

Pawel Pawlikowski is certainly on my list of directors every film from whom I would go out of my way to watch - My Summer of Love is one of the best movies of the past ten years and the Margate set Last Resort was also first class. This return after a 7 year absence is to be welcomed as I had become increasingly frustrated at his non remergence - especially as he has a contract to film one of my favourite books, The Restraint of Beasts.

The presence of the excellent Samir Gesmi on the cast was another reason to seek this out and by and large, it's gripping enough - although occasional unexplained owl appearances do recall the fox mitif from Lars von Trier's execrable Antichrist. As the compelling action progresses, what's fact and fiction tends to blur with not entirely satisfying results - still, it's good to have Pawlikowski back.