The Page Turner

A butcher's daughter, 10-year-old piano virtuoso M̩lanie nervously sits before a jury of esteemed musicians at the Parisian Conservatory. Her tuition-free admittance into the Conservatory depends on this performance alone, and the petite M̩lanie has practiced diligently. As she carefully plays each note for her audition, she becomes distracted by one of the judges. Instead of watching M̩lanie, famed concert pianist Ariane is signing an autograph. The judge's disregard causes M̩lanie to falter, and her performance derails. M̩lanie doesn't make the cut. Disenchanted, she gives up her dreams of musical grandeur. Some ten years later, the poised M̩lanie has landed a job as a file clerk at a major law firm. Her self-motivated precision makes her a standout to the senior partner M. Fouch̩court. When Fouch̩court needs a caretaker for his son, he convinces M̩lanie to move into his country mansion. As it turns out, Fouch̩court's pianist wife inadvertently forces M̩lanie to confront the past she has repressed for so long. In THE PAGE TURNER, filmmaker Denis Dercourt composes a riveting examination of personal motivation, crescendoing from controlled order to unbound passion. (In French with English subtitles) РE.J.B