The Page Turner (2006)

After failing the audition to a prestigious music school because of the rude behavior of one of the testers, a girl takes revenge by gaining the trust of the same woman some years later and becoming indispensable for her.

Director:

Denis Dercourt

Writers:

Denis Dercourt (scenario and dialogue), Jacques Sotty (collaboration)

Stars:

Catherine Frot, Déborah François, Pascal Greggory

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Frot	...	Ariane
Déborah François	...	Mélanie
Pascal Greggory	...	M. Fouchécourt
Clotilde Mollet	...	Virginie
Xavier de Guillebon	...	Laurent
Christine Citti	...	Mme Prouvost
Jacques Bonnaffé	...	M. Prouvost
Antoine Martynciow	...	Tristan
Julie Richalet	...	Mélanie enfant
Martine Chevallier	...	Mme Onfray
André Marcon	...	M. Werker
Arièle Butaux	...	Présentatrice radio
Michèle Ernou	...	Monique
Danièle Douet	...	Femme autographe
Mark Reed	...	Mc Guerman (as Marc Reed)

Storyline

The girl Mélanie Prouvost is the beloved daughter of the butchers Mrs. Prouvost and Mr. Prouvost. 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, 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. Mélanie overhears that he needs someone to take care of his son Tristan 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.

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Plot Keywords:

breasts | lesbian subtext | fondling breast | f rated | underwater scene | 

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Taglines:

Revenge is a dish best served cold

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

9 August 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

La cambiadora de páginas

Filming Locations:

Maison de Radio-France, Paris 16, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,844, 25 March 2007

Gross USA:

$209,659

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,284,852

Company Credits

Production Co:

Diaphana Films, France 3 Cinéma, La Région Île-de-France

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visa d'exploitation en France # 11609.

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Goofs

When ten-year-old Mélanie enters the exam's room with the jury, the reflection of the boom mic is clearly seen on the black piano.

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Connections

Referenced in Rolf De Heer (2008)

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Soundtracks

Prélude en ré mineur
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach (as Jean Sébastien Bach)
Performed by Jérôme Lemonnier, piano

User Reviews

The Page Turner

This is a French movie and why I selected to see this movie was because it was running for a long time in Amsterdam. I thought that it must be a good movie. I had seen the trailer earlier and as I do not understand French I found it to be a homely movie. But that was not the case, when I read the reviews before seeing the movie – I understood that it was a thriller.

So I got more interested and went to see it. The usher of the hall – looked like did not expect a colored Asian to come and see this movie – may be she did not see any in its 14 week run in the theatres. So when she saw me – she stopped me to check whether I am entering the right hall or not – and yes I was – I was going to see a French movie – La tourneuse de pages – meaning the turning of pages.

It is a beautifully told story about a young gifted girl who is a very good piano player. She wants to get admission in a music school – but fails at the admission test because one of the lady jury member is arrogant not to give an autograph to her mother, but to show off in front of other jury members – gives autograph to someone in the middle of this girls performance; in turn unintentionally distracting her and loosing her concentration, ending up not being selected. This leaves a deep scarce inside this girl's mind, who abandons playing piano.

The next scene spans after 10 years, when this girl is grown up and is appointed to work in a lawyer's firm. The owner of the firm is the husband of that female jury member because of whom this girl was not able to pursue her interest in music - playing piano. The remaining part of the story is about this young girl's revenge to this lady jury member. The young girl is played by beautiful Deborah Francois – who plays every emotion of the innocent young girl's character with perfect ease and comfort. All the credit to the director Denis Dercourt who uses images to transfer the thoughts going on the character's mind with such ease on screen. The story unfolds – we as audience expecting what are the next thing this girl is going to do? I would not tell the tactic the girl uses – it is really very interesting and people who want to study the portrayal of psychological intent on screen – should study the scenes, characters and the on screen incidents.

At the end of the movie – I was actually waiting for something more to happen and was disappointed that the movie got over so fast. Full credit to the other character of the lady jury member – Catherine Frot – who has displayed a decent, typically wealthy lady's character – by going into the skin of what this elite people do or behave.

Worth watching.