Ao Lado da Pianista

Not once does the page turner (Melanie) reveal her thoughts throughout the action of this incredibly engaging story. Melanie's performance is one of such extraordinary deftness that the revenge she wreaks is brought upon her 'persecutors' by their own actions. 'Butter wouldn't melt' is a phrase a wise observer would wryly make of this wily operator. There is just the hint of a social comment around the social and economic class differences between the pianist and the page turner. Melanie is clearly a Leveller. In a sense, Melanie gives a virtuoso performance, dedicating herself to the quiet study and execution of her plan. Melanie leaves, dignity intact, after delivering the ultimate cure for narcissism.

The girl Mélanie Prouvost (Déborah François) is the beloved daughter of the butchers Mrs. Prouvost (Christine Citti) and Mr. Prouvost (Jacques Bonnaffé). She is an aspirant pianist and her parents make her application to the Conservatory. During the entrance exam, she begins with a great performance but she is distracted by one member of the admittance board, Ariane (Catherine Frot), who is giving an autograph, and she fails.

Years later, Mélanie is a teenager that has just finished high-school and she is accepted as intern of the law firm owned by the prominent lawyer Mr. Fouchécourt (Pascal Greggory). Mélanie overhears that he needs someone to take care of his son Tristan (Antoine Martynciow) and she offers to the position. She needs to travel to another town and when she arrives at the manor, she is welcomed by Ariane, who is the wife of Mr. Fouchécourt. She does not recognize Mélanie and soon she becomes Ariane's page turner, in the beginning of her carefully planned revenge against the woman that destroyed her dreams.

"La tourneuse de pages", a.k.a. "The Page Turner", is a stylish thriller of passion, seduction and revenge. This is almost a perfect movie, with great direction, screenplay and cast. The music score with classics is another attraction of this wonderful movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I think these days the audience has forgotten how minimalist a film can be to achieve effective and powerful stories. "The Page Turner" reminds us of just that, in a era where films under 2 hours are often deemed as too short.

Clocking in at 70 minutes, this is a great, neat little piece of work with solid performances throughout. Deborah Francois is has a natural cool and a hidden Machiavellian glint in her eyes that is only subtly conveyed throughout the movie, and her seeming lack of emotions is frighteningly real. This is a revenge story, and is a no nonsense script, helped further on with beautiful choices of music and great camera and directing.

It conveys a powerful message on the nature of revenge how easily we humans come to lean on one another, emotionally and psychologically. Betrayal is the worst for a person to experience, and here the betrayal and revenge of "The Page Turner" is delivered with the grace of a real master of intrigue.

I recently saw this at the 2007 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Once you can get past the implausible beginning that sets the stage for the rest of the film it becomes a good psychological thriller. Mélanie is a talented young pianist giving a conservatory entrance exam recital that is cut short by being distracted by the thoughtlessness of a famous concert pianist who is one of her judges. Years later as a grown young woman she puts herself in a position to seek her revenge on the woman who was that judge at her recital exam when she was a young girls aspiring for a career as a classical pianist. Déborah François as Mélane gives a good performance as the page turner and although it is a one-dimensional performance I guess that is what the role calls for. Catherine Frot is very good as Ariane, the concert pianist on whom Mélanie plots her revenge by inserting herself into her household and career. Very good music from Jérôme Lemonnier who wrote the score for the film. Additional piano pieces from Bach, Shostakovitch and Schubert. Dennis Dercourt directs a story he co-wrote with Jaques Sotty. The story has it's flaws but overall it delivers as a good film that I would give a 7.5 out of 10 and recommend it.

Melanie Prouvost (Deborah Francois) is a girl who really knows how to hold a grudge. Aged 10 she sees her prospects of a musical career go up in smoke at a piano recital when she is distracted by one of the judges, Ariane Fouchecourt (Catherine Frot), a famous pianist who thoughtlessly signs an autograph while Melanie is playing. After this failure Melanie refuses ever to play the piano again.

A decade on and Melanie, while interning at a law firm, gets the opportunity to become a live in nanny for her boss's son. Needless to say the boss's wife turns out to be none other than Ariane.

From hereon in the film plays on our uncertainty as to precisely how and to what extent Melanie intends to take her vengeance against the emotionally fragile Ariane, who of course is totally oblivious to their prior encounter. Is Melanie truly a cruel and beautiful ice maiden out for limitless revenge, or does she have a heart after all? The film keeps the tension going playfully and subtly, helped in no small measure by excellent performances from Catherine Frot and Deborah Francois. In fact about the only criticisms I can think to make are that the script could possibly have fleshed out Melanie's motivations just a little more fully, and also that there were several continuity errors regarding Melanie's dress. I don't often notice such errors, but in this case they involved the sudden disappearance of Deborah Francois' delectable cleavage, which I felt myself compelled to keep a close eye on throughout. A very minor quibble with an otherwise accomplished film.