A devastating, subtly reticent thriller that matches Hitchcock twist by twist.
The Page Turner (2007)
Rated: 15
Runtime: 85 mins
Theatrical Release: 03-11-2006
Synopsis: A small-town butcher's daughter, Mélanie, aged about ten, seems to have a special gift for the piano. She takes the Conservatory entrance exam, but fails after being distracted by the thoughtless behaviour of the chairwoman of the jury, a well known concert pianist. Bitterly disappointed,... A small-town butcher's daughter, Mélanie, aged about ten, seems to have a special gift for the piano. She takes the Conservatory entrance exam, but fails after being distracted by the thoughtless behaviour of the chairwoman of the jury, a well known concert pianist. Bitterly disappointed, Mélanie gives up the piano. Some ten years later, while working as an intern with a law firm, Mélanie meets Monsieur Fouchécourt, the husband of the woman who changed her life without a doubt. Mélanie's efficiency and devotion are quickly noticed and Monsieur Fouchécourt recruits her into his home to look after his son. Madame Fouchécourt soon warms to Mélanie when her musical sensitivity comes out, and the young woman becomes her page turner... -- © Tartan Films [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Catherine Frot, Deborah Francois, Pascal Greggory, Clotilde Mollet, Xavier De Guillebon
Screenwriter: Denis Dercourt, Jacques Sotty
Producer: Michel Saint-Jean
Composer: Jerome Lemonnier
DVD Info
Release:
Oct 7, 2007
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- NTSC
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen
- Single Side - Dual Layer
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - French
- Subtitles - English - Optional
Reviews
A meticulously controlled piece from which every ounce of fat has been trimmed.
Denis Dercourt’s stylish, subtle and highly assured film is a pleasingly suspenseful psychological drama in the style of Hitchcock or early Chabrol.
With gentle plotting the intensity builds and builds until it all boils over.
This must be what a French movie-of-the-week look like, deemed art here because of the subtitles.
If only the story could have been as involved and layered as some of the incredible music (or as good as a page-turner book), this would be a must-see.
A tautly crafted but deeply misogynistic and anti-workingclass French psychological thriller.
here the business of revenge is as measured and well-tempered as a piano score, and it will turn out that Melanie's Bach is far worse than any bite.
In the movies, there’s nothing quite as sinister as the antagonist who’s willing to wait for her revenge.
Dercourt washes the film in a chillingly remorseless suspense. . . . the story, as taut as a razor-sharp piano string, offers a few sly, subtle sexual knots before the final bloody note is struck.
Director Denis Dercourt proves there are still unexpected twists to be found on the well-traveled road of the revenge mystery.
The serving temperature of revenge has seldom been colder, nor the time of preparation longer, than for this gourmet French plat froid from writer-director Denis Dercourt.
this taut little film is a psychological thriller about revenge. If the Japanese horror adaptation hadn't already used the title THE GRUDGE, that might have served as a more appropriate title for this drama.
There is an undercurrent of tension throughout this riveting tale of revenge, made all the more effective by the subtlety and restraint used by French writer/director Denis Dercourt
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