The Page Turner

FLICK Hitchcockian tale of former piano player Mèlanie (Déborah François, L'Enfant), a twenty-something woman who goes to work as a nanny for Ariane (Catherine Frot) the woman who she feels ruined her music recital when she was a young girl. The two women perform perfectly together as the scheming François puts the stoic Frot in a comfort zone. Director Denis Dercourt purposefully doesn't rush the storytelling of this psychological thriller, leaving us to anxiously await Mèlanie's next move. The initial images of Mèlanie pounding the piano keys alternating with her father, a butcher, chopping meat are very telling. She is reminiscent of Rhoda Penmark (who also played the piano) in The Bad Seed, except that Mèlanie is very methodically controlled. We know that she will enact her revenge, but how and when remains to be seen. Dercourt offers no detailed explanations for Mèlanie's behavior (why can't she just get over it?), but watching her every move is what holds this story together. The classical pieces played in the film perfectly enhance the suspenseful and sinister atmosphere and add depth to the simple tale. (AKA La tourneuse de pages) Screened at the 2007 Philadelphia Film Festival. My Score: 7 out of 10.