Pretty Good

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Denis Dercourt both wrote (with Jacques Sotty) and directed this very low key but very devastating tale of concentrated revenge. It has a tight script, a cast of very fine actors, and a pacing that holds the audience to the story wondering how the 'plan' will work out in the end. 10-year-old Mélanie (Julie Richalet) is a gifted piano student, the daughter of a butcher and his wife, whose studies provide her with the opportunity to enter the academy if she is successful in winning an audition. At the audition the chief judge is the accomplished pianist Ariane Fouchécourt (Catherine Frot) who allows an autograph seeker to disrupt Mélanie's audition, a disruption that results in breaking Mélanie's concentration: she does not win the audition and moreover she gives up the piano altogether. 10 years later Mélanie (the very beautiful Déborah François) works as an intern in a wealthy lawyer's office - M. Fouchécourt (Pascal Greggory) - who happens to be married to Ariane, now with a terrible stage fright because of an accident. When M. Fouchécourt needs a nanny to care for his young son Tristan (Antoine Martynciow), Mélanie ask for the job and moves to the mansion in the country where she tends after Tristan and admires Ariane's practicing. Ariane is preparing a concert in a trio with violinist and cellist wife and husband (Christine Citti and Jacques Bonnaffé). Ariane fears the performance but finds security when Mélanie offers to turn pages for her. A strong bond forms between the two, a bond that appears to go beyond music, and the concert results in success. The manner in which Mélanie works her way into Ariane's need and her response to advances made by the married cellist begin to divulge the intention of Mélanie's involvement with the Fouchécourt family. How she choreographs her revenge for her childhood disappointment is the direction the story takes to its end. Aside from the obvious fact that this film is in many ways an intense psychological thriller, the other joys offered are some excerpts from the music of Shostakovich, Bach, and Schubert. Each of the actors is superb and the manner in which director Dercourt leads us through this maze of belated revenge is truly fine filmmaking. Grady Harp

The Page Turner was directed by Denise Dercourt, who won awards for his other film Lise et Andre. It starts off with Melanie, a little girl who has hopes to getting a full scholarship to an esteemed music school by playing piano. She is passionate and it shows in the way that she plays. The audience has no doubts that she will make it in. Her dreams are tarnished when one of the judges, Ariane Fouchecourt, disrupts her concentration by accepting an autograph in the middle of her recital. She never plays piano again. We see her later as a teenager, who is working as an intern for a successful lawyer. The secretary who she works under tells her that the lawyer needs someone to watch his son, so Melanie takes the job. His wife? The judge who made her lose her dreams. In the beginning we are not sure what Melanie's intentions are, but then we soon realize that it is revenge.The movie dragged, and I kept waiting for the pace to pick up. The interaction between the two main characters could have been a little bit emotion than what we are shown. I understand that it was suppose to be an escalating suspense, but I feel that it lacked a climax. If it were a book, I would have already put it down waiting for "AHA" moment. It seems that too many movies are lacking good scenes until the end. Also, many people seem to have short memories, so they ignore how bored they were for the past 95 minutes, and are happy because the ending was good. The movie did have a denouement, and I was happy for that. Another thing that I liked about the film is that it showed that in revenge, the avenger and the avengee have their good and bad points. My parents loved this film, and I can see why. However, it wasn't for me.

Twelve-year-old Melanie Prouvost is determined to become a world-class pianist. She practices with a single-mindedness which is daunting. She arrives with her mother at a conservatory where she will perform a difficult piece before a panel of judges. Many other children are competing. If she wins, her chances for a wonderful career will lie in front of her. As she takes her place at the piano and begins, one of the judges, a famous concert pianist, motions in a fan who wants an autograph. The judge whispers something, takes out a pen, thinks a moment, writes on the photo and returns it to the fan. Melanie's concentration is broken. She stops, tries to recover and performs badly. Afterwards, the judge simply comments that there was no reason for Melanie to stop. On the way out of the conservatory, Melanie suddenly pushes down the key cover on a piano when another girl is practicing, nearly crushing the girl's fingers. Melanie arrives home and locks her piano for good. Several years later, Melanie (Deborah François), now a striking young woman, applies for and is accepted as an intern in a law office. She learns a senior partner needs someone to look after his young son while he is away for several weeks on business. His wife works and cannot always be available. When Melanie says she'd happily look after the boy, she is accepted. And when she arrives at the country manor, 25 miles outside Paris, we learn that the mother was in an auto accident and is still emotionally fragile. The woman, Ariane Fouchecourt (Catherine Frot), indeed works. She is a world-class pianist who now performs as part of a trio. And, yes, she was the judge who so thoughtlessly ruined Melanie's life ambition. She doesn't even remember the incident. Now we realize Melanie remembers all too well. All along we've noted how quiet Melanie is. She observes; sometimes there will be the smallest of smiles. Melanie becomes almost indispensable to Ariane, who suffers stage fright now. Melanie becomes her page turner, the person who sits next to a pianist and turns the pages of the score as the pianist plays on. She begins to give Ariane confidence. We're not sure where the movie is heading. All we know is that a number of uneasy things happen that could be explained away. Melanie gains the confidence of Tristan, the boy, but twice seems to place him in positions of peril that don't quite happen. She opens some letters and smiles just a bit, but we're not sure why. She subtly seems to be almost wooing Ariane, yet shows no particular interest. We remember Melanie is the daughter of butchers and know she must be familiar with slicing into meat. Does this mean we'll soon be watching her turn Tristan into lamb chops? The movie keeps us off balance. While it's possible that at some point we'll realize that Melanie still loves the piano and we may end with her giving Ariane back confidence while Ariane decides to work with Melanie on a career for her, we also realize that the movie just might end the way Claude Chabrol's La Cérémonie does, with a slaughter fired by resentment and rage. No one dies in this movie, just the soul of one of the characters. The Page Turner is a not- quite-a-thriller thriller, and is all the more disturbing because of it. François and Frot give marvelous performances, with François unnervingly calm and Frot fragile to a fault. This was only Deborah François' second movie. At 19, she almost out-Hupperts Isabelle Huppert. There is some great music in the movie. The trio, with Melanie as the page turner for Ariane, does a rehearsal of Shostakovich's opus 67, trio in E minor. It's terrific. The Page Turner is almost as good at keeping us off balance.

"LaTourneuse de pages" aka "The Page Turner", (2006) directed by Denis Dercourt is a clever, elegant, entertaining French psychological drama/revenge/thriller, short but satisfying. It was made by a writer/director who has been a professional musician, both a performer and a teacher, who knows and loves classical music and makes it a very important part of all his movies. Prélude en ré mineur by Johann Sebastian Bach and Shostakovich's opus 67, trio in E minor that sound in "The Page Turner" are marvelous.The film brings to mind such excellent and diverse films as "The Piano Player ", "Notes on a Scandal", and "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant" but it is very good on its own terms thanks to the pitch perfect performances by two main characters and supporting cast and exquisite subtlety in exploring the familiar subject of long awaited and perfectly executed revenge. 19 years old Belgian actress Déborah François gives an absolutely stunning performance as Mélanie Prouvost, a self-possessed, attractive, efficient, and well mannered young woman with a sweet quiet smile, refined soft voice, graceful movements, impeccable taste and appreciation for fine quality of things. Mélanie is very observant, smart, and it did not take her long to become an indispensable asset, a trusted page turner for her new boss, Ariane Fouchecour (Catherine Frot). Ariane is a renowned concert pianist who now performs in a trio and is vulnerable and fragile after having survived an auto crash. Little did Ariane know that the girl who had charmed the whole family with her tactfulness, efficiency, and loyalty, has a long memory that goes as far as ten years back when young Melanie (Julie Richalet also gave memorable performance as young Melanie) dreamed of becoming a famous pianist, tried to pass the Conservatory entrance exam with Ariane as a president of the jury. Melanie got distracted by Ariane having signed an autograph for a fan during her performance and failed the exam. She never touched the piano again and she never forgot the day and the person that had changed her life ...Both actresses were outstanding, and François was a revelation in her only second role which is also her second award winning performance in the row. One of the reviewers mentions that she "almost out-Hupperts Isabelle Huppert" as the page turner. The gifted young actress justly deserves this praise. I hope that she has a great future ahead of her and I will be waiting for her following movies.