Such a frustrating disappointment

Instant Favorite.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

This movie has a hypnotic quality that makes it compelling right from the start and its story about a young woman with an agenda that's driven by an incident from her past is totally gripping and extremely disturbing. Director Denis Dercourt does a great job as he skilfully creates an uneasy atmosphere and also mirrors the kind of meticulous approach that the woman employs as she seeks to exact revenge on the person that she holds responsible for ruining her chances of having a career as a classical pianist.Melanie Prouvost (Julie Richalet) was a talented 10-year-old pianist who auditioned for entry to a prestigious conservatory in Paris where the judging panel was chaired by the famous and well-respected concert pianist Ariane Fouchecourt (Catherine Frot). The audition started well but Ariane insensitively disrupted Melanie's performance when she signalled an autograph hunter to come into the room and, in so doing, caused Melanie to lose concentration and fail her exam. The young girl, who was naturally devastated, went home, locked her piano lid and immediately gave up her musical studies.Ten years later, Melanie (Deborah Francois) is taken on as an intern in the law firm which is headed by Ariane's husband Jean (Pascal Greggory) and when she hears that he needs someone to look after his son while he's away on business for a few weeks, Melanie volunteers for the job. At Jean's luxurious country mansion, she discovers that Ariane has become emotionally fragile after her involvement in a car accident and had suffered with stage fright ever since. Ariane doesn't recognise Melanie but soon comes to appreciate her work as she plays tennis with her son and helps with his piano studies.When she discovers that Melanie can read music and is more than capable as a "page turner", Ariane starts to gain more confidence about an important radio concert that she's due to perform in as part of a trio and the two women become closer as Melanie becomes indispensable to Ariane in a number of ways. The cool, calm and calculating Melanie pursues her aims in a very determined and seemingly detached way until appropriately, she achieves her objective, partially by getting Ariane to sign an autograph and exploiting the same vanity and conceit that the older woman had displayed years earlier at Melanie's fateful audition."The Page Turner" is elegant, subtle and cleverly understated but is also clearly influenced in its style by Claude Chabrol and the sequence at the end of the movie where Melanie walks away from the mansion is reminiscent of a scene featuring Stephane Audran at the end of "La Femme Infidele" (1969). Similarly, a Hitchcockian influence is evident in the early part of the movie where natural sympathy with Melanie's predicament later causes the audience to feel conflicted about her actions (in the same way that Alfred Hitchcock did in "Psycho" with Marion Crane's character).The quality of the acting in this movie is consistently high but naturally, because of the significance of their roles, Catherine Frot and Deborah Francois stand out. Frot creditably makes the self-regarding, insensitive Ariane that we see at the beginning of the story every bit as convincing as the vulnerable and nervous woman that she later becomes and Francois is absolutely mesmerising as the placid-looking Melanie who so cruelly gets her revenge by damaging the lives of all three members of Ariane's family. Rarely can there have ever been a home invasion drama in which the invaded were so oblivious to what was going on and where the invader succeeded so comprehensively in what they set out to do.

Not a surplus word, not a gesture out of place, not a scene that doesn't contribute to a gradual crescendo of tension culminating in a calm, controlled but devastating climax. A superb central performance, excellent support, and a lean, mean script that's directed with a sparse intensity that delivers every ounce of a stunning psychological payload. Masterful. Film-making at its very best.I was blocked from posting my review for failing to provide 10 lines. I find this baffling. I'm sure I've seen reviews on IMDb with fewer than 10 lines, and I said what I wanted to say in six. Does that make it unworthy? Doubly ironic in this instance, given that one of the things I regarded so highly in this film was the tight concision of its script. Are these 'junk words'? If so, so be it. Oh, one last thing: I find it good practice when visiting reviews of foreign films on IMDb to add one to the score. In the case of The Page Turner, I think anyone would have to double that. Personally I have no hesitation in giving it 10, but I wouldn't expect even reasonable and astute people to necessarily feel the same way. But 7? Mon Dieu!

There are three solid reasons I relished viewing this film to wit: Melanie, Melanie and Melanie. Déborah François is memorizing with her awesome beauty and the never ending 'turning wheels' in her head that refuse to betray her true 'plan.' There is much chatter about this film being a 'thriller.' It is true that Hitchcock type 'hints' abound and are often discussed. They include (1) nearly chopping off a fellow ten year olds fingers (2) holding Ariane's son's head under water and (3)an 'eagerness' to knife a man who could have been dispatched in any number of non-violent ways. This irrelevant (to the revenge plot) man being the ONLY target of Melanie's physical rage throughout the entire film.If Melanie was obsessed for half her life with revenge against Ariane then it was no accident she went to work for Ariane's husband. It was then by pure chance that she wrangled a job at their home. Since Melanie never planned to be working at Ariane's home we can assume she had plan A, perhaps seducing Ariane' husband in the work place and thereby wreaking havoc on Ariane. The script took a different direction throwing Melanie the LUCKY chance to enter Ariane's home.Now living in her 'enemy's' home we are led time and again to believe Melanie has a diabolical plan of revenge up her sleeve. Failing to appear at her page turning assignment leaving Ariane to use a substitute is hardly the stuff diabolical 'revenge plans' are made of. Ariane went on to play and so far as Melanie knew Ariane, a consummate professional pianist, would rise to the occasion and do very well with the substitute.Then, there is again the appearance of dumb luck which presents Melanie with a 'note' from Ariane that contains the perfect few words of self 'marital' incrimination. By all logic and reason Ariane would have used artful non-incriminating words at that time, before any real relationship existed. After all, Ariane planned to drive Melanie to the train station the next morning. That drive would have provided Ariane all the private time in the world to vent her inner most feelings to the lovely Melanie sans any need to write an incriminating note. Page Turner promises what Alfred would have delivered, namely, a diabolical plan of revenge, formed over half a lifetime, which sees Melanie, as hinted time and again throughout the film, erupt in a volcano of violence, injury, death and/or destruction aimed at her target.Lots of promises, mood, expectation BUT in the end where was the diabolical 'beef.' And without all the key lucky breaks it would seem Melanie had little or no plan of horrific revenge at all.

Responding to Alison's request for the name of the Shostakovich piece played, it is his Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Opus 67. It's Shostakovich in rare "Jewish" mode (he was not Jewish, but when he used Jewish idioms it was usually to commemorate a Jewish friend). I have a recording of it played by the Beaux Arts Trio, and it's very fine. And it's 24 minutes long, not the 2 minute excerpt played in the Radio France concert in the movie. Sadly, and for no reason I can detect, the composer of the film's incidental music found it necessary to intrude and impose his "talents" on this and other established classics, rendering the effect of the Bach, Schubert, and Shostakovich pieces fairly impotent. Not this guy's finest hour, by any means.Oh, and the equally brief excerpt of a Schubert Piano Trio played for the American in the movie -- that's one of two he wrote in his maturity, and the two are easily found recorded by many artists. Two recommended recordings are the Stern-Rose-Istomin Trio and again the Beaux Arts Trio.Although a bad page turner can be deadly during a concert, the performer really ought to know the piece well enough to be able to play through a page break up to the next opportunity to turn the page oneself. That is the central disconnect with real life that this movie displays. And if the pianist is so shell-shocked from her accident that she gets stage fright so easily, she really would not be able to last very long on the concert circuit in any event. In that respect, Melanie actually did Ariane a big favor by doing what she did. So there's lots to puzzle about in this movie, things that strike directly at the heart of characters' motivations and so weaken the story.