Review of The Page Turner (2006) by Raj D — 18 Nov 2006

At 10 Melanie (Played as an 18 year old by Francois) is a gifted pianist. She goes to take a piano exam and is doing fine until an autograph hunter comes into the room to get a signiature from one examiner (Frot) and Melaine's performance comes to a halt. Her concentration blown she messes up on restarting an fails the exam, then promptly gives up piano.

At 18 Melanie is working for a lawyer (Greggory) when she discovers he needs an au pair for a month she asks for the job and is promptly hired. On arriving she finds that the Ariane, lawyer's wife, is the very examiner who threw her confidence years ago. Ariane and her trio are working up to a hugely important concert and Ariane needs a page turner, when she finds that Melanie can read music she enlists her as turner for the concert.

I have to be careful what I say here because anything I reveal about this film risks spoiling its twists and turns so there will be no further talk of plot.

The premise of The Page Turner hardly seems like the recipe for a taut thriller but don't let that decieve you. There may be little actually happening most of the time but this only lets Dercourt create a chilling atmosphere and play with your imaginings of the possibilities. He takes Hitchcock's maxim that the recipe for thrills is to give the audience more knowledge than the characters and certainly the fact that you know who Melanie is while Ariane does not is a cornerstone of the film.

What takes this beyond an efficent aping of directors like Hitchcock, Chabrol and, more recently, Michael Haneke is the extraordinary cast.

Deborah Francois, just 19 years old, is a revelation. With her long blonde hair, penetrating eyes and cut glass beauty her look is tailor made for a Hitchcock film but it's her acting that impresses most. She gives a beautifully subtle performance which will have you pondering throughout the film, and perhaps beyond the closing credits, what the character's true feelings are and how much of what transpires was planned.

Francois is matched by an excellent Catherine Frot, giving a restrained performance in a role that could easily have slipped into histrionics. Pascal Greggory, though a little sidelined by the plot, is also strong.

Dercourt sets a stately pace but tempers it with the odd shock. There's just one instance of violence, brief but painful (though not explcit) it will elicit gasps from any audience. By setting his film up like this Dercourt makes the whole thing hum with tension.

The Page Turner is what I love best about cinema. Every now and then something you had no expectations for (I almost went to something else instead) will sneak up on you and proceed to blow you away, this is that rare film.