The Page Turner (2006)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Just what I expected

Absolutely Brilliant!

A Major Disappointment

This movie has a hypnotic quality that makes it compelling right from the start and its story about a young woman with an agenda that's driven by an incident from her past is totally gripping and extremely disturbing. Director Denis Dercourt does a great job as he skilfully creates an uneasy atmosphere and also mirrors the kind of meticulous approach that the woman employs as she seeks to exact revenge on the person that she holds responsible for ruining her chances of having a career as a classical pianist.Melanie Prouvost (Julie Richalet) was a talented 10-year-old pianist who auditioned for entry to a prestigious conservatory in Paris where the judging panel was chaired by the famous and well-respected concert pianist Ariane Fouchecourt (Catherine Frot). The audition started well but Ariane insensitively disrupted Melanie's performance when she signalled an autograph hunter to come into the room and, in so doing, caused Melanie to lose concentration and fail her exam. The young girl, who was naturally devastated, went home, locked her piano lid and immediately gave up her musical studies.Ten years later, Melanie (Deborah Francois) is taken on as an intern in the law firm which is headed by Ariane's husband Jean (Pascal Greggory) and when she hears that he needs someone to look after his son while he's away on business for a few weeks, Melanie volunteers for the job. At Jean's luxurious country mansion, she discovers that Ariane has become emotionally fragile after her involvement in a car accident and had suffered with stage fright ever since. Ariane doesn't recognise Melanie but soon comes to appreciate her work as she plays tennis with her son and helps with his piano studies.When she discovers that Melanie can read music and is more than capable as a "page turner", Ariane starts to gain more confidence about an important radio concert that she's due to perform in as part of a trio and the two women become closer as Melanie becomes indispensable to Ariane in a number of ways. The cool, calm and calculating Melanie pursues her aims in a very determined and seemingly detached way until appropriately, she achieves her objective, partially by getting Ariane to sign an autograph and exploiting the same vanity and conceit that the older woman had displayed years earlier at Melanie's fateful audition."The Page Turner" is elegant, subtle and cleverly understated but is also clearly influenced in its style by Claude Chabrol and the sequence at the end of the movie where Melanie walks away from the mansion is reminiscent of a scene featuring Stephane Audran at the end of "La Femme Infidele" (1969). Similarly, a Hitchcockian influence is evident in the early part of the movie where natural sympathy with Melanie's predicament later causes the audience to feel conflicted about her actions (in the same way that Alfred Hitchcock did in "Psycho" with Marion Crane's character).The quality of the acting in this movie is consistently high but naturally, because of the significance of their roles, Catherine Frot and Deborah Francois stand out. Frot creditably makes the self-regarding, insensitive Ariane that we see at the beginning of the story every bit as convincing as the vulnerable and nervous woman that she later becomes and Francois is absolutely mesmerising as the placid-looking Melanie who so cruelly gets her revenge by damaging the lives of all three members of Ariane's family. Rarely can there have ever been a home invasion drama in which the invaded were so oblivious to what was going on and where the invader succeeded so comprehensively in what they set out to do.

This is something I didn't think I was going to see, a Hitchcokian film from a foreign country, in this case France, kind of like Rebecca in some ways. Basically, as a child, ten year old Mélanie Prouvost (Julie Richalet) was a very talented piano player, and her parents decided she should sit the Conservatory entrance exam. The piano playing is going well, but then Mélanie is distracted by an autograph hunter wanting a singed photo from accomplished piano player and jury member Ariane (Catherine Frot), and when Mélanie starts playing again she starts going all over the place. Ten years pass since she failed her exam, with no criticism from the fellow jury members to Ariane, or her apology, twenty year old Mélanie (Déborah François) is working for a law firm. Chief lawyer Jean Fouchécourt (Pascal Greggory) needs someone to take care of his twelve year old son Tristan (Antoine Martynciow) during vacation time, and Mélanie offers her services. At their château outside Paris, she recognises that bitchy jury member Ariane as Jean's wife, recovering from a hit and run accident, and trying to reunite her music trio. With her ability to read music, and having established herself as a member of the family, Ariane is pleased to have Mélanie as her page turner. Of course when Mélanie gets her chance, she manages to spoil the second trio performance and turn Ariane into a nervous wreck, and there is no settled ending, well, Mélanie gets away with all and no punishment. Also starring Clotilde Mollet as Virginie, Xavier De Guillebon as Laurent, Christine Citti as Madame Prouvost and Jacques Bonnaffé as Monsieur Prouvost. The performances by both François and Frot are good, and the revenge element turns this class filled drama into a chilly psychological thriller. Very good!

In the history of cinema,it is believed that films about music are full of happy characters and pleasant endings.There are not so many instances where viewers get to see a film in which music is developed as a central theme which allows a lead performer to proceed towards revenge.French film "La Tourneuse De Pages/The Page Turner" is an exception to this rule.It is an exceptionally good film which shows us that it is quite possible for some people to use music as an element to seek revenge.By making good use of French cinema's leading actors such Pascal Greggory and Catherine Frot, director Denis Dercourt has ensured that his film clicks as these actors have given some of the most restrained performances seen in recent history of French cinema."The Page Turner" is also effective in highlighting social concerns involving poor people who dream of making big in their dreary existence. "La Tourneuse De Pages" would surely be a nice experience for all music lovers as watching it,we can hear good music as revenge theme takes its time.One of the major defect of this film concerns the fact that there are hardly any surprises in store.Astute viewers can easily guess what is going to happen.

Horribly marketed in the U.S. with such a bad (easily forgettable) title. Where are the good producers to lead the U.S. marketing teams (who even fell short with Stardust and oddly enough, with Live Free or Die Hard -- which should have done bigger numbers)? Done with economy and precision, the Page Turner is a little masterpiece. Brokeback Mountain received a lot of attention because of superstar McMurtry and the other savvy writer/ producers. This film deserved the same accolades -- not just because of the gay factor, but because of the updating factor of the French-New-Wave+Hitchcock model, like Brokeback was to the Western model.