The Inner Life of Martin Frost

Written and directed by Paul Auster, this 2007 film opens as novelist Martin Frost, exhausted after three years spent on his fourth book, retreats to a friend's empty country house for some rest. When he decides to begin a new story, he wakes one morning beside an attractive stranger who introduces herself as Claire, the homeowner's niece, and soon settles into the house. A romance blossoms between them that becomes entangled with the story he is writing, while one question gnaws at Martin: is Claire really who she claims to be?

The film adapts an imaginary movie described in Auster's novel The Book of Illusions into an actual feature; it is his second work as director and fourth as screenwriter. David Thewlis, Irène Jacob and Michael Imperioli star. A co-production of the United States, France, Portugal and Spain, it was shot in the spring of 2006 in Azenhas do Mar near Sintra, Portugal. It premiered at the New Directors/New Films Festival in March 2007 before opening in the United States on 7 September 2007.