Sindre Kaspersen French screenwriter and director Denis Dercourt's fifth feature film which he co-wrote with French screenwriter Jacques Sotty, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 59th Cannes International Film Festival in 2006, was screened in the Official selection at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival in 2006, was shot on location in France and is a French production which was produced by producer Michel Saint-Jean. It tells the story about a talented pianist named Mélanie Prouvost who lives in France with her parents. Mélanie has been preparing for an upcoming audition for a long time, but when the time has come to perform in front of a panel of judges, a woman interrupts the session to get an autograph and Mélanie loses her focus. Many years later, Mélanie attends an appointment with a woman at an advocate firm in Paris, France and is hired as an apprentice. Although just having gotten settled there, Mélanie has learned that one of the men who works at the firm named Jean is in need of a babysitter as his wife is about to perform at a concert with her trio called Anima, and offers to look after his son. Distinctly and precisely directed by French filmmaker Denis Dercourt, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated mostly from the two main characters' viewpoints, draws a quietly and increasingly intriguing portrayal of an immaculately well-mannered French woman from a butcher family who without telling who she really is, moves into the home of the woman she regards as the sole reason for her having to let go of her aspirations to become a professional pianist. While notable for it's naturalistic and mostly interior milieu depictions, sterling cinematography by cinematographer Jérôme Peyrebrune, production design by production designer Antoine Platteau and use of sound, this character-driven and narrative-driven story where a renowned concert pianist whom has become fragile after a hit-and-run car accident finds a new friend and admirer in a younger woman who within days of taking care of her son named Tristan whom is learning to play piano, makes such an impression on her that she asks her to become her page turner, depicts two refined, internal and merging studies of character and contains a poignant and timely score by composer Jérôme Lemonnier. This minimalistic, conversational and distinctly atmospheric chamber piece from the late 2000s which is set in the capital city of France in the early 21st century and where a charming stranger with fine credentials whom has been carrying a grudge for years against an influential woman named Ariane Fouchécourt who ignored her when she as a teenager was performing a music piece which could have given her a future as a musician, comes walking into the life of a family with the intention of getting even with the person she holds responsible for her unsuccessful audition and possibility to achieve her childhood dream, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, subtle character development, rhythmic continuity, mysterious, wickedly romantic and instrumental undertones, profoundly efficient and rarely obscure kiss, understated and memorable acting performances by French actresses Déborah Francois and Catherine Frot and the fine acting performances by French actor Pascal Greggory and French actress Julie Richalet. A gracious, cinematographic and accomplished psychological drama.

Jackson Booth-Millard 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!

bob_meg We've all seen what I like to call the Blank-From-Hell movie many times. You know what I mean. The admin assistant or nanny who looks oh-so-perfect from the outside only to reveal his or herself as a raving psychopath targeting a perfectly innocent, wronged person.Part of the reason these villains tend to have all the shelf-life of a McDonalds straw is the fact that we don't know much about them until the end of the film, and what we do find out is hardly revelatory: they were abused, they were traumatized, nobody loved them. Yeah, yeah...too little too late. You're out of the theater before you can process it.Melanie, played by the willowy, composed Deborah Francois, is hands down the most intriguing "blank" you'll ever meet. She doesn't rave, she doesn't rage incoherently and break everything in sight. Her parents were reasonably supportive of her and she wasn't abused. She's just someone you don't want to mess with.Struggling as a child to achieve her dream of becoming a concert pianist, she suffers a severe setback when a semi-renowned female judge rudely allows an outsider into the performance hall for an autograph during a crucial career-determining audition. Melanie's meticulous performance is destroyed and the judge (Ariane, superbly played by Catherine Frot) shrugs it off without a second thought. But not Melanie.Years later, she has insinuated herself, via an internship at Ariane's husband's law firm, into a live-in position at the family's posh country house, where she easily fills the role of Ariane's page-turner on her upcoming slate of radio broadcasts with her classical trio.We all know the drill by now, right? Since, being a BFH movie, we must have the standard plot points (see "Hand That Rocks the Cradle" or "Orphan" for more details)...pet is killed, husband is seduced, etc, etc."The Page Turner" brilliantly turns up it's nose at these mundane conventions and allows the diabolical machinations to be more emotional than physical. Melanie deftly manipulate's Arianne's fragile emotional state, creating a crippling dependence that's so wonderful to see shatter, when the time becomes right.Even that isn't easy or lazy...Francois' brilliant cypher-like performance never lets us in on what's really going through her mind. Is she regretting her scheme to put every aspect of Ariane's life in complete ruin...or is she gradually falling in love or like with the woman? And if she is, is she doing it to spite and cripple her even more? And is Ariane worthy of your sympathy? In a usual BFH movie that would be cut and dry....here it's anything but.One things's for sure, revenge has never been this bitter or this sweet at the same time.

jamieandzero First of all, if you take revenge, your victim should know for what reason revenge is taken. In this story this remains a complete mystery for the concert pianist. So, what is the use of revenge? Furthermore, the wrong person is punished: in fact, it was the autograph seeker, blatantly storming into the room where the audition was held, who was so rude to intrude herself into the privacy of the concert. In fact the only thing Madame Fouchecourt could do is just sign and get rid of the autograph seeker as soon as possible. Lastly, if you love both music and playing the piano you don't give up a career so easily, only because you were kept out of your concentration, you just start again. So the base of the story is very unrealistic. And than that scene with the cellist, horrible. No, a very silly film.