Revenge is not always sweet, but it can be an elegant dish when served with an icy French sangfroid, as it is in The Page Turner.
This is the deliciously chilling film from Denis Dercourt that played in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2006 Toronto film festival. It is also known under its French title, La Tourneuse de Pages, and now plays in Toronto in the original French with English subtitles.
In either language, the title is deadly dull, like an entry in a Help Wanted column. Not so the film's story, tone, brisk pace, stylish construct and the sheen given off by the sterling cast of French actors. All these elements are quietly, seductively thrilling.
The action, subtle as it is, opens with the unfortunate experience of a young girl (Julie Richalet) who blows her audition to study piano at a prestigious conservatory in Paris. It seems like a small incident to outsiders. But she rages inside, blaming her disaster on the rude fuss generated during her solo by one of the judges -- a famous concert pianist -- during the audition. The girl permanently gives up her piano studies, slamming her keyboard shut.
Flash forward in time. Our girl is now a young woman (Deborah Francois). She has a singular ambition: To work for that same famous concert pianist (Catherine Frot) who once disrupted her audition.
It turns out that Frot is in the midst of a personal and career meltdown and the newcomer becomes her confidante and her page turner for concerts, a task that is actually crucial to an artist's success. Frot's husband (Pascal Gregory) figures into the scenario in intriguing ways.
What is remarkable about this film is that it works with the intensity of a murder mystery or a policier. Yet it operates inside what is obviously a rarified atmosphere of classical music. So the usual touchstones of the thriller genre take on a different aspect.
Dercourt, co-writer with Jacques Sotty, is a skilled director who never lets his own work get in the way of the story he is trying to tell. The Page Turner is not flashy, it is simply effective. It pries into the psychological territory with such command and confidence that you feel you know, and know intimately, each of the players in the scenario.
The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, from Francois' smoldering yet dangerous sexuality to Frot's intellectual fragility to Gregory's emotional remoteness. It is a pleasure just to watch them work.
As a character study, The Page Turner works at the highest level. As cinema, it draws the viewer in with such skill that it leaves you hooked. As a way to get out of the rut of Hollywood genre flicks, Dercourt will take you into a fresh new territory.
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