THE PAGE TURNER [Denis Dercourt, France 2006] - movie review by Mandibil

The ugly bad guy, does not have to be a guy and does not have to be ugly either. I have a soft spot for movies that turns the conventional or stereotypic casting on its head. I also like films that presents us with a clear theme and manages to stick to it without unnecessary filling to meet the runtime. This french psychological drama has both.

Ariane (Catherine Frot) is a recognized pianist playing in a trio with a violin- and a viola player. As a child she was admissioned to the conservatory, while another girl, Mélanie, was not. She does not remember that girl anymore, but she does remember Ariane. The girl, now a grown woman (Déborah François) has waited for years to get her revenge on Ariane and starts as a clerk at Arianes husbands lawyer firm. She manages to get a babysitting job at their private house and now she is "inside". Melanie slowly manipulates Ariane´s son to play the piano too fast for his tender hands. She takes advantage of Ariane´s secret attraction to women and hits on her using her extraordinary youthful beauty to soften her. Ariane offers her the job of helping her as musical notes page turner during a concert. Ariane has been looking for a good new one and Mélanie seems perfect. Al though one of her music friends points out some weird traits about Mélanie, Ariane ignores it. She is falling in love with Mélanie and is blinded. This will have devastating effect on herself and her family.

This is a very delicate and "soft" film. It is the complete opposite of a standard jump-scare horror or psychological thriller. The horror is downplayed to the absolute minimal level, while still retaining its intended effect. The mesmerizing, but cool beauty of Mélanie, is almost perfectly balanced with her intrinsic mad revenge-fullness. She comes across as both polite and approachable but also psychopathic and vindictive . Only a few times I felt the "smirk" grin, to illustrate her ill intend, was a bit too fleshed out. But that is a minor thing. I also like that the movie focuses on the two women the whole way through. The husband,son and friends are only small side dishes that adds to build the personality and social life of Ariane, that Mélanie can manipulate. The theme of the movie is envy and revenge. Revenge is born from the envy of another persons intrinsic skills, that you cannot reach no matter how much you try. Wanting to destroy another persons life for revealing your own mediocrity is one of the lowest and most pathetic and psychopathic instincts you can have. The movie highlights the fact that some psychopaths among us are so hard to recognize since they understand the empathy of "normal" human beings, but they lack the capacity of sympathy completely. This combination can be nearly impossible to navigate and handle for a normal person "burdened" by their capacity for sympathy.

This is really a nice little movie, and i say little in the sense that it is so delicately acted and shot. The two leading female actors do a really great job and specifically Mélanie is played with a very convinced balanced out normality vs. psycopathy. There is never a dull moment and you never feel forced to be scared or manipulated by the same old tricks for this kind of plot. the story is also well developed, Mélanie staying mostly the same due to her lack of emotional depth and Ariane falling deeper and deeper into a mix of horror and sexual attraction. A very recommendable film.

Rating : 8/10