The Page Turner | DVD Review

Could someone please explain to me why the French have to take everything so seriously all the time? Why must they have the same scowl on their face when they’re sitting down to breakfast as when they are angry? It only serves to make everything in film all that much more dramatic. This can be a problem when the crux of film is already difficult to swallow. Nominated for three Cesar awards in 2007, THE PAGE TURNER (LA TOURNEUSE DE PAGES), embodies all that is grave and unnecessarily so. When no more than 10, Melanie (Julie Richalet), a gifted pianist, auditions for a prestigious music school. Her audition is going well until Ariane (Catherine Frot), herself a famous pianist sitting on the judging panel, selfishly allows a fan to enter the room for an autograph. Thrown by Ariane’s audacity, Melanie stops playing. Once the fan is gone, Ariane tells her she needn’t have stopped and that she should continue. She does but her performance is now stinted and she can no longer find her rhythm. Years later, Melanie (Deborah Francois) weasels her way into Ariane’s home as her son’s caretaker in order to exact her revenge on the woman who ruined her chances of ever realizing her full potential. I find myself laughing almost as hard describing the scenario to you as I did while watching it. This young girl messes up one audition and fixates her anger on one inconsiderate woman for over ten years instead of going home to practice harder to reapply elsewhere or the following year. The premise is almost as ludicrous as the manner in which she gets back at Ariane. She isn’t there to kill but rather ruin her life like hers was ruined. Poor Melanie doesn’t see that she ruined her own life and just blames someone else. Boo-hoo.

Writer/Director Denis Dercourt is himself a musician who gives lectures on chamber music and played the viola in an orchestra at the age of 16. THE PAGE TURNER is his fifth film and he drew upon his own experiences with writing music when he approached the script. He wanted something very methodical, very controlled. From both a visual and performance standpoint, the film is a success. The overbearing control over the screenplay is not as successful as it leaves the film feeling contrived. The DVD’s only feature aside from trailers and scene selection, is making-of. It is mostly interview time with Dercourt and in a well-spoken and thoughtful exchange, he explains his inspiration for the film, his visual styles and impressions of his actresses’ performances. This is broken up with on-set footage that exposes the calculated movement of the camera and compares it to the polish of the finished product. Not surprisingly, he is a very controlling director, dictating to his actors exactly how to stand or where to place their hands. His vision is clear in his head but he does not stop to think what it might read like in the head of someone else.

THE PAGE TURNER is a lowbrow thriller disguising itself as French high-art. It is devoid of both thrill and surprise. In fact, the most surprising thing about it is that it actually thinks it is surprising.

Movie rating – 2.5

Disc Rating – 2