Frenchie suspense thriller about passion, seduction & revenge.

This icy-cold thriller is driven by impressive performances. It suffers from being too simplistic and relying on coincidences that push the boundaries of plausibility, and complete lack of suspense - it becomes apparent early on where the story is going.

Really enjoyed this movie. Liked the main lead. Very subtle in her revenge (unlike how a Hollywood movie would be). Very effective.

Great use of suspense throughout.

Sophisticated psychological thriller is stylish-looking but empty.

Revenge is indeed best served cold! This is definitely one of the best psychological thrillers I've seen in a long time.

Psychologically gripping story.

Suspense de venganza frances con un erotismo y una musica excelentes. Este director es sencillamente un maestro porque es una de esas peliculas que pasa bien ligera pero cuando uno la digiere se da cuenta de su grandeza.Excelente

the suspense draws one in...as do lots of foreign films

"La Tourneuse de Pages" is the definition of a stylish, subtle French thriller. For being a first-time director, Denis Dercourt shows off a style that is perfectly elegant, all the while mastering a sustained, creepy feel. While it isn't perfect, "La Tourneuse de Pages" has so many moments of flawlessness that it's highly memorable. Mélanie (Julie Richalet) is a young, aspiring pianist that practices constantly, hoping to make herself as perfect as possible. Her parents are supportive of her, but she's so dedicated and hard on herself that failure isn't an option. The day comes when she goes to a music festival, and is adjudicated by a panel of judges. While everything begins well, he performance is badly affected when, during the performance, a woman comes in and gets the autograph by one of the judges (Catherine Frot). Mélanie fails, and from then on, we can tell something isn't quite right with her. As she locks her piano and hides the key, her face remains expressionless-- and we can tell there's more to come. Several years later, nothing about Mélanie has changed, except she's a young woman (Déborah François). We meet her just as she's working as an intern for a law firm, where she quickly adapts. With just a few weeks on the job, she's offered the job to look after her boss' young son during the summer. Upon a arrival, a shocking discovery is made-- the mother is Ariane Fouchécourt, the exact same judge who ruined Mélanie's career. I don't want to reveal anymore of the plot of "La Tourneuse de Pages", because just a word could say too much. From the beginning, I was predicting that by the end, Mélanie would kill everybody, in a revenge that's a bit neater than The Bride's battle in "Kill Bill". I'll assure you that this doesn't happen (although I was a bit disappointed), and instead we get a thriller that's so nearly silent that it's unsettling. Every scene feels just as tight as Hitchcock, maybe even more so. The characters are simply unpredictable, their actions sometimes shocking. While "La Tourneus de Pages" has flair a bit more on the mind than a script, Dercourt definitely knows how to draw out a scene of suspense to a breaking point. The key assets to the film are Frot and François. From the beginning, most will assume that Frot is a monster with no regards for others, and François is just a naïve girl whose life she destroys. As soon as I discovered the truth, I almost felt stupid. Frot is superb, conveying ongoing empathy and fragility that as soon as we realize what her "page turner" is attempting to do, we can't help but feel anguish. François might be even better. Barely 19, and on the height of her success as the acclaimed "L'Enfant", her character may remain expressionless, but she projects evil and sadism just as well as any knife-clutching killer in a horror movie. The two actresses are perfect foils for each other, and they make the film wonderful. "La Tourneuse de Pages" is a splendid thriller. I've seen so few like it, and I already want more.

A decent French revenge thriller about an unlikely set of circumstances. Dercourt is wonderful as the icy Melanie

I was disappointed by this movie, perhaps mostly because I was misled by the description of the story. It turned out it has nothing to do with "once-promising career of a professional pianist that has been tragically sidelined", but of the end of career of a mediocre music player who, as a young girl, could not concentrate enough to play her piece at the admission exam and attributed her failure to one of the board member who was signing the autograph during her audition. Perhaps she thinks about herself as talented, that's why she behaves towards the others in the cruel, mean and jealous way. Other than that, the movie is pretty good - the production is solid, the music is beautiful and the acting is excellent. Dà (C)borah François in her ominous tranquility reminded me a little of a young Isabelle Huppert.

Its deliberately slow pace and lack of true suspense may put off some viewers but for its story and character arc, The Page Turner succeeds in showing how life's coincidences can affect others. Its ending also shows how you do not need a Single White Female-like fight to the death to create a resolving among its characters.

A very subtle thriller with an ending that may seen to be innocuous in its lead-up yet still packs a punch at its denouement. It also vividly reminded me of my violin exam days and the level of perfection required by the examiners/teachers/nagging parents who dislike the sound of a cat being strangled. With the amount of work that often goes into presenting a flawless musical repertoire, I personally don't think Melanie's actions are all that unwarranted. Would watch this one multiple times and still not be bored.

A stylishly produced, psychologically tense film, which is truly able to build up suspense a la Hitchcock, yet in its own, very individual, way. The story gradually creeps in and escalates, slowly at a time, until you feel something is bound to happen. Ultimately, despite the many mini build-ups, the climax is different and maybe less 'obvious' than what you'd expect - yet it turns out to be very interesting and surprising. The leading performances were excellent, with Francois playing the emotionally hurt, icy Melanie with rare agility, while Frot is successfully able to convey the increasingly vulnerable, fading star Ariane. Small actions can have major consequences - definitely a major theme in this picture.

This could be the Frenchest movie I've ever seen.

Quand on regarde un film on farme sa yeule mais ce film devient si intense que ma bouche y a à (C)tà (C) d'un record de mots mysogines pronocà (C)s durant le vissionnement d'un film. Le film a quelques dà (C)fauts: la performance de Dà (C)borah François pas aussi achevà (C)e que celle de Catherine Frot, la mise en situation, l'esthà (C)tique au dà (C)part,... Mais une fois VRAIMENT rentrà (C) dans le film on ne peut que savourez.

If you like your revenge played out "adagietto e appassionato ma non troppo " you will enjoy every turn of the page this film has to offer. Recommended.

A silly story about a petty young girl

Not the worst of stories but just weak stuff. A young girl is shunned at a piano recital because one of the judges pauses to give an autograph. She gives up the piano altogether, and due to circumstance, gets back at the woman so many years later. But it's a fairly boring ride minus the quite attractive Deborah Francois in a bikini and/or skimpy clothes here and there. And the conclusion is fairly lame. 1. If a girl this hot was into my wife, I'd probably be into that. 2. The wife never actually did anything so it seems a simple explanation would solve everything. And 3. it's all manufactured drama! Because of the other two points, the conflict is just weak. For a thriller, I never felt anyone was in real danger. I guess that's one difference between a French thriller and an American one.