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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: The Page Turner

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#1 of 1 Posted 3/6/07 10:18 PM

From Harveycritic Posts 1632 Last Nov-2
To All [Msg # 22248.1 ]

THE PAGE TURNER (La tourneuse de pages) Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten Tartan Films Grade: B+ Directed by: Denis Dercourt Written By: Denis Dercourt, in collaboration with Jacques Sotty Cast: Catherine Frot, Deborah Francois, pascal Greggory, Clotilde Mollet, Xavier de Guillebon, Christine Citti, Jacquess Bonnaffe, Antoine Martynciow, Julie Richalet, Martine, Chevallier, Andre Marcon Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 3/6/07 Opens: March 23, 2007 During the 1950s there was a silly program on TV called “What’s My Line,” featuring moderator John Daly and guests Robert Q. Lewis, Bennet Cerr, Arlene Francis and Dorothy Kilgalle, who were allowed ten questions to figure out the unusual occupations of their guests. On September 11, 1955, one guest signed in with the occupation “God” (professions were shown to the TV audience but not to the contestants) and I forget what the other unusual vocations were, but I remember no one who was a page turner, though that would have qualified. A page turner is the reader of music who would sit next to the concert pianist and flip over whenever the musician would come to the end of a page. If she were too early or too late, disaster. But the turner would get no real credit for the role. She would stay seated during the applause and not be named in the notes. One might expect such a person, probably a failed musician, to harbor envy toward the pianist mixed, perhaps, with affection at least for having a job. The title character in Denis Dercourt’s film is out for revenge, and if she lacks the talent to be the concert pianist she envies, she certainly has the discipline to plan the perfect retribution, an act which must have taken months if not years in the planning and required her to carry herself off with an angelic smile and a feminine carriage that could charm Dick Cheney into supporting Noam Chomsky for Vice President. The story opens on a petit bourgeois Parisian family. M. Prouvost (Jacquest Bonnaffe), a butcher, and his wife Mme Prouvost (Christine Citti), are preparing their daughter Melanie (Julie Richalet) to audition for piano studies at a tuition-free school. When a judge, pianist Ariane Fouchecourt (Catherine Frot), stupidly allows a woman to enter the room to pursue her autograph, Melanie is distracted, flubs the audition, and gives up piano forever. Ten years later, Melanie (Deborah Francois) begins to intern as a file clerk at a Paris law firm of Jean Fouchecourt (Pascal Greggory), whose wife happens to be the very judge whose faux pas caused Melanie to fail the audition. This judge, Ariane Fouchecourt, who does not recognize Melanie, becomes dependent on her as a page turner and for emotional support, as she has become fragile as a result of an auto accident–all of which sets the stage for Melanie’s delightful round of retribution. Audience members who expect the predictable–that Melanie would simply refuse to turn a page at a big concert–are in for a surprise. This is not an American soap with a predictable arch. The revenge is actually deeper and more frightening, yet paradoxically less overtly melodramatic. The key to the film’s merit is the performance of nineteen-year-old Deborah Francois in her second feature, the picture of innocence, just the kind your mother warned you against: “It’s the quiet ones you’ve got to watch out for.” Director Denis Dercourt knows whereof he directs and co-writes. Since 1993, he has been teaching viola and chamber music at the Strasbourg Region National Conservatory. He apparently knows the politics of the industry, and has selected, as well, some delightful excerpts including a sprightly Shostakovich trio for our enjoyment. And oh yes, a bit of advice he throws graphically our way. If you happen to play the cello and you’re carrying your instrument with you, don’t ever try to make out with a girl half your age. Not Rated. 85 minutes 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online

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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: The Page Turner

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