The Page Turner (2006)

The greatest movie ever made..!

Purely Joyful Movie!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

In the history of cinema,it is believed that films about music are full of happy characters and pleasant endings.There are not so many instances where viewers get to see a film in which music is developed as a central theme which allows a lead performer to proceed towards revenge.French film "La Tourneuse De Pages/The Page Turner" is an exception to this rule.It is an exceptionally good film which shows us that it is quite possible for some people to use music as an element to seek revenge.By making good use of French cinema's leading actors such Pascal Greggory and Catherine Frot, director Denis Dercourt has ensured that his film clicks as these actors have given some of the most restrained performances seen in recent history of French cinema."The Page Turner" is also effective in highlighting social concerns involving poor people who dream of making big in their dreary existence. "La Tourneuse De Pages" would surely be a nice experience for all music lovers as watching it,we can hear good music as revenge theme takes its time.One of the major defect of this film concerns the fact that there are hardly any surprises in store.Astute viewers can easily guess what is going to happen.

During the first half of The Page Turner, I was wishing that it would get a move on. Then I realised that I was being impatient and relaxed into the pace dictated by the film. After that, it was like savouring an ice cream knowing that the end would be messy -- but exactly HOW messy? There was, however, no need to worry about unnecessary blood and guts (well, maybe the former made a brief appearance), as Melanie gently inserted a psychological knife and turned it gently.I'm still not sure who's side I am on, though. If Melanie had not allowed herself to be distracted by the thoughtlessness of her examiner and had completed the piece, she may have gone on to become a professional musician. So it was really her own fault in the first place.But, accepting that she believed Ariane to be at fault, she exacted her revenge very sweetly indeed. My question is: did she plan it all or just take her opportunities as they manifested themselves? Did she know who her boss's wife was? Did she apply for the job specifically because of that? Had she been stalking Ariane before the start of the film?In the end, I enjoyed it despite my many questions, so a very acceptable 7/10 and I hope to see Deborah Francois on screen again soon.

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.

Where should I begin? This movie is overloaded with errors.Seventy minutes seemed like two hours. The characters of this movie are cold and dry,the movie is very slow and the plot is recycled and unrealistic. I liked the music in the movie and the opening scenes where the girl was playing piano and her parents were butchering the meat, it was a good way to foreshadow how the girl was going to butcher her examiner's life, but that was about it. The first error that appeared in the movie was when the main character's (10-year-old Melaine who dreams of becoming a pianist) entrance examination to a music school was disrupted by someone coming in to get an autograph from one of the judges(Ariane). No such disturbances are allowed during such an examination, but the director of this film, completely ignored this fact. Then ten years later, after failing the entrance exam due to getting disrupted at the exam and therefore giving up on her dream as a pianist, Melaine gets revenge on the judge who disturbed her by ruining the judge's life and the life of her family. Before Melaine met Ariane again, Ariane was involved in a car accident which made her very nervous at all her future concerts. This is unrealistic, because professional musicians never get this nervous, otherwise they would not have been allowed to perform. One of Melaine's evil plots involves making Ariane's son practice a piece of music faster and faster every day, so that his hand would hurt. In real life practicing music at faster pace each time is a way to improve your skills and does not do damage.Mealaine's evil plots are not realized by Ariane or her husband until the end of the movie, when Meline returns Ariane her thank you note. Then suddenly Ariane and her husband realize what Melaine had done. It is impossible to believe that this note made everything clear.The plot is recycled, since this type of revenge is typical in movies. Why couldn't the director think of a movie where instead of giving up piano, Melaine would get so good at piano that she would beat Ariane at her own game and get revenge by becoming better and more popular than her?