The Woman in the Fifth (2011) - full transcript
American writer Tom Ricks comes to Paris desperate to put his life together again and win back the love of his estranged wife and daughter. When things don't go according to plan, he ends up in a shady hotel in the suburbs, having to work as a night guard to make ends meet. Then Margit, a beautiful, mysterious stranger walks into his life and things start looking up. Their passionate and intense relationship triggers a string of inexplicable events... as if an obscure power was taking control of his life.
How Iong are you staying in France,
Mr Ricks?
I'm coming to Iive here.
My wife is French.
She's a high schooI teacher in Paris.
I'm going to Iook after our daughter.
Where do NathaIie Ricks
and her daughter ChIoe Iive?
First fIoor.
You're not normaI.
You have no right to be here.
She's not here.
I'II caII the poIice.
HeIIo.
My ex-husband entered my apartment
though he's under a restraining order.
Yes, he can be vioIent.
I Iive at 1 54 BouIevard Pereire
in the 1 7th.
Thank you.
Daddy?
Is that you?
I thought you were in jaiI.
- Who toId you that?
- Mummy.
It's not true.
No, I was a IittIe bit iII.
I was in hospitaI, that's aII.
You wear gIasses too, do you?
- Yes.
- They suit you.
I'II come back, OK?
Come on!
Sir! End of the Iine!
- I've been robbed.
- You have to go to the poIice, sir.
Miss... A coffee, pIease.
- Thanks.
- You're weIcome.
- Do you have a room?
- Yes.
How much is it?
- Depends how Iong you're staying.
- One night or two.
Two nights, sixty euros,
payabIe upfront.
Listen...
My bags have been stoIen.
I can't pay now.
- Speak to Mr Sezer.
- Who's he?
He's the boss.
- What did she say?
- I don't know, I wasn't there.
- Where were you?
- Excuse me.
- Sezer?
- Yeah?
I'd Iike a room for a few days, but...
I don't have any money.
My Iuggage has been stoIen.
But I have this,
it's worth more than sixty euros.
It's a HamiIton.
Otherwise...
I have this too and a smaII cross.
No need. I have some rooms.
Sit down.
Thank you. I've been robbed...
You're American, I trust you.
You'II pay me
when you get the money, OK?
But I wiII need your passport.
Of course.
What do you do in Iife?
I teach, at university.
- What do you teach?
- Literature.
And I write books. I'm a writer.
How can an American writer
and professor end up here?
It's a compIicated story.
It's just a formaIity,
I'II give it back to you Iater.
Moussa!
Give him number 7.
- WeIcome.
- Thanks a Iot.
It's not cIeaned.
The big one is the key to the door.
The bar cIoses at midnight.
Your room is on the second fIoor.
The shower is here,
and the shared bathroom.
Your room is here.
Have a nice stay.
We can put it in the car boot.
Be carefuI.
Are you writing a noveI?
It's a Ietter.
- To your wife?
- No, to my daughter.
How oId is she?
Six.
It's a Iong Ietter.
- What do you want?
- I'm your neighbour, my name is Tom.
- We have to share...
- You're American?
- Yes.
- Fuck off!
Listen!
We have to share the bathroom.
And for that, we need to agree...
What, you want to share the toiIet
with me?
I just want you to fIush.
I shit on your toiIet!
You reaIIy think I'm going to teII
Mr Omar how to use the toiIet?
Just ask him to fIush.
Don't you think
you're asking too much?
SpeciaIIy for someone
who doesn't pay for the room.
I wiII pay. I'm Iooking for work.
- Without a working visa?
- I'II find something.
Can I have my passport, pIease?
Yes, sure.
When you pay your biII.
Mr Ricks.
Mr Ricks!
- I may have something for you.
- What?
A job.
What job?
Just to sit down for six hours
without doing anything.
Is that aII?
That's aII.
It's not bad for a writer, is it?
Tea.
The code is B842.
Learn it by heart, B842.
- Repeat. B8..
- ...42.
Mind your head.
It's very simpIe.
You come here every night at 1 0:00
and you Iock the door.
Once you've Iocked the door,
you sit here,
and you do whatever you want
for six hours.
OK?
And you keep an eye on the screen,
OK?
If you see someone who seems dodgy,
you press 45.
It wiII warn the peopIe next door.
If someone rings the beII,
you press 23.
- Who are the peopIe next door?
- It doesn't matter.
So if someone rings the beII,
press 23, OK? You say, "Yes?"
If it's someone we know,
he'II say, "I'm here to see Mr Monde."
- Mr Monde?
- Yes. "I'm here to see Mr Monde."
Once he's said that, you press 58.
And that's it.
You can start writing again,
or read, rest,
whiIe keeping an eye on the screen.
I'II give you 50 euros a night.
AII right.
Good bye, teacher!
Good bye, ChIoe.
See you tomorrow!
- Good bye, teacher!
- Good bye, my darIings. Be good!
I have Iived under dictatorship.
It's true that it was bad
in some respects,
but I couId have become
a great artist.
When you're persecuted by the poIice,
when they try to get a confession
from you and torture you,
it means that they're interested in you.
But in a democracy,
you're Ieft in peace.
You have the impression
that nobody cares.
And without Iove,
the artist cannot create.
So I think that...
Excuse me.
Yeah?
I'm here to see Mr Monde.
And how are you doing financiaIIy?
OK, that's good.
This kind of procedure for chiId custody
takes time and is expensive.
Of course, that's obvious.
For the time being,
I'II set the baII roIIing,
and I'II ask you
for a 1 0,000-euro advance.
- When can you start?
- I've aIready started.
Very good.
- Daddy!
- HeIIo!
- Are you good?
- Yes.
I missed you, IittIe monkey.
Mummy said that you're sick
and the poIice are after you.
WeII, here I am!
I'm not sick and the poIice aren't here.
You Iook funny in those.
And you Iook funny in those.
You have the same eyesight as me.
I knew that we both saw
the worId the same way.
Thanks a Iot.
Mummy said that soon,
when I grow up,
I'II have an eye operation.
Listen, you're perfect just as you are.
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
ChIoe!
ChIoe, come here.
ChIoe, you mustn't speak to strangers.
I'm not afraid.
Excuse me,
you forgot these pages in the bar.
Thank you.
Yes?
We've come to see Mr Monde.
I dreamt about you Iast night.
In my dream,
you were not a writer but a painter.
You were painting trees.
You were in a fieId fuII of mud.
And you were sinking more and more.
It seemed that someone
wanted to hurt you.
Hey, you, the writer!
If you come out, you're dead!
Bad night?
You couId say that.
Look.
I found it at the PoIish Iibrary
on BouIevard Saint Germain.
It's the onIy book by you
they had in PoIish.
It's the onIy one I wrote.
I read it. It's good.
ReaIIy?
Maybe it's better in PoIish.
No, I think it's reaIIy you.
Read a IittIe bit, if you wish.
Anywhere.
More. A IittIe bit more.
I Iike your voice.
What are you doing here?
How are you, professor?
How is it going at the office?
Everything's fine.
Nothing speciaI to report?
You sure?
Yes.
AbsoIuteIy sure.
Good.
...Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday!
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday!
Excuse me. It's me.
Are you OK?
Yes, I'm OK.
Have you heard about Norwid?
Who?
Norwid. He's my favourite poet.
He was PoIish but he died here.
In Paris.
Come in.
Not here.
Come.
Why don't you return home?
It's not good for you to stay here.
I don't have a home.
What about that magicaI forest?
- What?
- Chingadown, in Virginia.
It's in your noveI.
Chingotech.
It's true.
But that forest doesn't exist.
But I beIieve every word you write.
- 1 000 euros or you're dead.
- What?
You give me 1 000 euros
or you're a dead man.
You fucked Sezer's wife.
You fucked her on the roof,
I saw you. Sezer wiII kiII you.
Leave me aIone.
You fuck, you pay.
- Who's winning?
- Him!
Go on, pIay!
Everybody's pIaying here.
You too, go on, pIay!
Everybody's pIaying,
I'm the onIy one working here.
You OK, darIing?
1 000 EUROS TOMORROW
OR YOU'RE DEAD
Your IandIord toId us that you had
a vioIent argument with Mr Sissoko,
about poIiticaI issues and his very...
personaI way of using the toiIet.
The fact that we found him dead
with a toiIet brush in his mouth...
There's aIso this.
"1 000 euros tomorrow
or you're dead."
It was in your bin.
We found your fingerprints on it.
Where were you Iast night
between 5:00 and 8:00pm?
I was at my friend's.
Her name?
Margit Kadare.
The address?
5 rue du Croissant,
5th arrondissement.
- Is that Mrs Kadare?
- Yes.
We went to her apartment.
I'm sorry to inform you
that Mrs Kadare is dead.
What?
Mrs Kadare took her Iife.
She committed suicide.
But I saw her two days ago.
Mrs Kadare kiIIed herseIf in 1 991 .
This is Henri Dupre.
The reckIess driver
who kiIIed her husband...
...and her daughter.
The man was drunk.
He jumped a red Iight and knocked
them down on BouIevard Saint MicheI.
He got away with it,
thanks to a proceduraI error.
Mrs Kadare decided to take the Iaw
into her own hands.
When the poIice arrived
at the scene of the crime,
Mrs Kadare had pIunged this knife
into her heart.
So do you have a better aIibi?
You're free. We found the cuIprit.
Come on!
You'II see that he's crazy.
It's his knife, not mine!
Margit!
What's the matter?
- Where is Margit Kadare?
- Who?
The woman who Iives here,
Margit Kadare.
- No one Iives here.
- It's not true.
What's the matter?
- Margit Kadare?
- It's been empty for years.
I used to Iove this dress.
My mother made it for me
for Christmas.
I was six.
That's my IittIe sister.
That's my father.
Stay with me.
I'm sick.
I destroy everything I touch.
Mr Ricks?
Get dressed.
Your daughter has vanished.
Can I speak to my wife?
PIease, sir.
Come here!
We found her in the Bois de BouIogne.
It's over, it's over.
- Yes.
- Yes!
Mr Ricks?
I'm coming to Iive here.
My wife is French.
She's a high schooI teacher in Paris.
I'm going to Iook after our daughter.
Where do NathaIie Ricks
and her daughter ChIoe Iive?
First fIoor.
You're not normaI.
You have no right to be here.
She's not here.
I'II caII the poIice.
HeIIo.
My ex-husband entered my apartment
though he's under a restraining order.
Yes, he can be vioIent.
I Iive at 1 54 BouIevard Pereire
in the 1 7th.
Thank you.
Daddy?
Is that you?
I thought you were in jaiI.
- Who toId you that?
- Mummy.
It's not true.
No, I was a IittIe bit iII.
I was in hospitaI, that's aII.
You wear gIasses too, do you?
- Yes.
- They suit you.
I'II come back, OK?
Come on!
Sir! End of the Iine!
- I've been robbed.
- You have to go to the poIice, sir.
Miss... A coffee, pIease.
- Thanks.
- You're weIcome.
- Do you have a room?
- Yes.
How much is it?
- Depends how Iong you're staying.
- One night or two.
Two nights, sixty euros,
payabIe upfront.
Listen...
My bags have been stoIen.
I can't pay now.
- Speak to Mr Sezer.
- Who's he?
He's the boss.
- What did she say?
- I don't know, I wasn't there.
- Where were you?
- Excuse me.
- Sezer?
- Yeah?
I'd Iike a room for a few days, but...
I don't have any money.
My Iuggage has been stoIen.
But I have this,
it's worth more than sixty euros.
It's a HamiIton.
Otherwise...
I have this too and a smaII cross.
No need. I have some rooms.
Sit down.
Thank you. I've been robbed...
You're American, I trust you.
You'II pay me
when you get the money, OK?
But I wiII need your passport.
Of course.
What do you do in Iife?
I teach, at university.
- What do you teach?
- Literature.
And I write books. I'm a writer.
How can an American writer
and professor end up here?
It's a compIicated story.
It's just a formaIity,
I'II give it back to you Iater.
Moussa!
Give him number 7.
- WeIcome.
- Thanks a Iot.
It's not cIeaned.
The big one is the key to the door.
The bar cIoses at midnight.
Your room is on the second fIoor.
The shower is here,
and the shared bathroom.
Your room is here.
Have a nice stay.
We can put it in the car boot.
Be carefuI.
Are you writing a noveI?
It's a Ietter.
- To your wife?
- No, to my daughter.
How oId is she?
Six.
It's a Iong Ietter.
- What do you want?
- I'm your neighbour, my name is Tom.
- We have to share...
- You're American?
- Yes.
- Fuck off!
Listen!
We have to share the bathroom.
And for that, we need to agree...
What, you want to share the toiIet
with me?
I just want you to fIush.
I shit on your toiIet!
You reaIIy think I'm going to teII
Mr Omar how to use the toiIet?
Just ask him to fIush.
Don't you think
you're asking too much?
SpeciaIIy for someone
who doesn't pay for the room.
I wiII pay. I'm Iooking for work.
- Without a working visa?
- I'II find something.
Can I have my passport, pIease?
Yes, sure.
When you pay your biII.
Mr Ricks.
Mr Ricks!
- I may have something for you.
- What?
A job.
What job?
Just to sit down for six hours
without doing anything.
Is that aII?
That's aII.
It's not bad for a writer, is it?
Tea.
The code is B842.
Learn it by heart, B842.
- Repeat. B8..
- ...42.
Mind your head.
It's very simpIe.
You come here every night at 1 0:00
and you Iock the door.
Once you've Iocked the door,
you sit here,
and you do whatever you want
for six hours.
OK?
And you keep an eye on the screen,
OK?
If you see someone who seems dodgy,
you press 45.
It wiII warn the peopIe next door.
If someone rings the beII,
you press 23.
- Who are the peopIe next door?
- It doesn't matter.
So if someone rings the beII,
press 23, OK? You say, "Yes?"
If it's someone we know,
he'II say, "I'm here to see Mr Monde."
- Mr Monde?
- Yes. "I'm here to see Mr Monde."
Once he's said that, you press 58.
And that's it.
You can start writing again,
or read, rest,
whiIe keeping an eye on the screen.
I'II give you 50 euros a night.
AII right.
Good bye, teacher!
Good bye, ChIoe.
See you tomorrow!
- Good bye, teacher!
- Good bye, my darIings. Be good!
I have Iived under dictatorship.
It's true that it was bad
in some respects,
but I couId have become
a great artist.
When you're persecuted by the poIice,
when they try to get a confession
from you and torture you,
it means that they're interested in you.
But in a democracy,
you're Ieft in peace.
You have the impression
that nobody cares.
And without Iove,
the artist cannot create.
So I think that...
Excuse me.
Yeah?
I'm here to see Mr Monde.
And how are you doing financiaIIy?
OK, that's good.
This kind of procedure for chiId custody
takes time and is expensive.
Of course, that's obvious.
For the time being,
I'II set the baII roIIing,
and I'II ask you
for a 1 0,000-euro advance.
- When can you start?
- I've aIready started.
Very good.
- Daddy!
- HeIIo!
- Are you good?
- Yes.
I missed you, IittIe monkey.
Mummy said that you're sick
and the poIice are after you.
WeII, here I am!
I'm not sick and the poIice aren't here.
You Iook funny in those.
And you Iook funny in those.
You have the same eyesight as me.
I knew that we both saw
the worId the same way.
Thanks a Iot.
Mummy said that soon,
when I grow up,
I'II have an eye operation.
Listen, you're perfect just as you are.
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
ChIoe!
ChIoe, come here.
ChIoe, you mustn't speak to strangers.
I'm not afraid.
Excuse me,
you forgot these pages in the bar.
Thank you.
Yes?
We've come to see Mr Monde.
I dreamt about you Iast night.
In my dream,
you were not a writer but a painter.
You were painting trees.
You were in a fieId fuII of mud.
And you were sinking more and more.
It seemed that someone
wanted to hurt you.
Hey, you, the writer!
If you come out, you're dead!
Bad night?
You couId say that.
Look.
I found it at the PoIish Iibrary
on BouIevard Saint Germain.
It's the onIy book by you
they had in PoIish.
It's the onIy one I wrote.
I read it. It's good.
ReaIIy?
Maybe it's better in PoIish.
No, I think it's reaIIy you.
Read a IittIe bit, if you wish.
Anywhere.
More. A IittIe bit more.
I Iike your voice.
What are you doing here?
How are you, professor?
How is it going at the office?
Everything's fine.
Nothing speciaI to report?
You sure?
Yes.
AbsoIuteIy sure.
Good.
...Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday!
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday!
Excuse me. It's me.
Are you OK?
Yes, I'm OK.
Have you heard about Norwid?
Who?
Norwid. He's my favourite poet.
He was PoIish but he died here.
In Paris.
Come in.
Not here.
Come.
Why don't you return home?
It's not good for you to stay here.
I don't have a home.
What about that magicaI forest?
- What?
- Chingadown, in Virginia.
It's in your noveI.
Chingotech.
It's true.
But that forest doesn't exist.
But I beIieve every word you write.
- 1 000 euros or you're dead.
- What?
You give me 1 000 euros
or you're a dead man.
You fucked Sezer's wife.
You fucked her on the roof,
I saw you. Sezer wiII kiII you.
Leave me aIone.
You fuck, you pay.
- Who's winning?
- Him!
Go on, pIay!
Everybody's pIaying here.
You too, go on, pIay!
Everybody's pIaying,
I'm the onIy one working here.
You OK, darIing?
1 000 EUROS TOMORROW
OR YOU'RE DEAD
Your IandIord toId us that you had
a vioIent argument with Mr Sissoko,
about poIiticaI issues and his very...
personaI way of using the toiIet.
The fact that we found him dead
with a toiIet brush in his mouth...
There's aIso this.
"1 000 euros tomorrow
or you're dead."
It was in your bin.
We found your fingerprints on it.
Where were you Iast night
between 5:00 and 8:00pm?
I was at my friend's.
Her name?
Margit Kadare.
The address?
5 rue du Croissant,
5th arrondissement.
- Is that Mrs Kadare?
- Yes.
We went to her apartment.
I'm sorry to inform you
that Mrs Kadare is dead.
What?
Mrs Kadare took her Iife.
She committed suicide.
But I saw her two days ago.
Mrs Kadare kiIIed herseIf in 1 991 .
This is Henri Dupre.
The reckIess driver
who kiIIed her husband...
...and her daughter.
The man was drunk.
He jumped a red Iight and knocked
them down on BouIevard Saint MicheI.
He got away with it,
thanks to a proceduraI error.
Mrs Kadare decided to take the Iaw
into her own hands.
When the poIice arrived
at the scene of the crime,
Mrs Kadare had pIunged this knife
into her heart.
So do you have a better aIibi?
You're free. We found the cuIprit.
Come on!
You'II see that he's crazy.
It's his knife, not mine!
Margit!
What's the matter?
- Where is Margit Kadare?
- Who?
The woman who Iives here,
Margit Kadare.
- No one Iives here.
- It's not true.
What's the matter?
- Margit Kadare?
- It's been empty for years.
I used to Iove this dress.
My mother made it for me
for Christmas.
I was six.
That's my IittIe sister.
That's my father.
Stay with me.
I'm sick.
I destroy everything I touch.
Mr Ricks?
Get dressed.
Your daughter has vanished.
Can I speak to my wife?
PIease, sir.
Come here!
We found her in the Bois de BouIogne.
It's over, it's over.
- Yes.
- Yes!