La tourneuse de pages (2006)

Director:

Denis Dercourt

Writers:

Denis Dercourt (scenario and dialogue)
Jacques Sotty (collaboration)

Release Date:

9 August 2006 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Thriller

Tagline:

Revenge is a dish best served cold

Plot:

Mélanie Prouvost, a ten-year-old butcher's daughter, is a gifted piano player. That is why her parents...

Plot Keywords:

Piano | Piano Player | Nanny | Audition | Family Relationships

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Catherine Frot	...	Ariane
Déborah François	...	Mélanie
Pascal Greggory	...	M. Fouchécourt
Clotilde Mollet	...	Virginie
Xavier De Guillebon	...	Laurent
Christine Citti	...	Mme Prouvost
Jacques Bonnaffé	...	M. Prouvost
Antoine Martynciow	...	Tristan
Julie Richalet	...	Mélanie enfant
Martine Chevallier	...	Mme Onfray
André Marcon	...	M. Werker
Arièle Butaux	...	Présentatrice radio
Michèle Ernou	...	Monique
Danièle Douet	...	Femme autographe
Mark Reed	...	Mc Guerman (as Marc Reed)
Jean Chrétien	...	Mathias
François Rosolato	...	Jury conservatoire
Alexis Monceaux	...	Jury conservatoire
Jacques Sotty	...	Jury conservatoire
Catherine Lebaigue	...	Jury conservatoire
Frédéric Moulin	...	Appariteur conservatoire
Émilie Reignier	...	Tourneuse remplaçante
Marion Sicre	...	Assistante M. Werker
Pomme Bourcart	...	Jeune fille autographe
Juliette Bône	...	Pianiste conservatoire
Caroline Mathieu	...	Avocate
Moussa Ag Assarid	...	Brancardier (as Moussa Ag-Assarid)
Karim Adelis	...	Brancardier
Danièle Renaud	...	Infirmière
Julie Primot	...	Vendeuse
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
François Guillaume	...	Le médecin (uncredited)

Directed by
Denis Dercourt

Writing credits
Denis Dercourt		(scenario and dialogue)
Jacques Sotty		(collaboration)

Produced by
Tom Dercourt	....	executive producer
Michel Saint-Jean	....	producer

Original Music by
Jérôme Lemonnier

Cinematography by
Jérôme Peyrebrune		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
François Gédigier

Casting by
Brigitte Moidon

Production Design by
Antoine Platteau

Costume Design by
Antoine Platteau

Makeup Department
Véronique Delmestre	....	makeup artist
Chantal Leothier	....	key makeup artist (as Chantal Léothier)

Production Management
Sarah Blanc	....	assistant production manager
Emmanuelle Jacobson-Roques	....	unit manager trainee
Yann Jouannic	....	unit manager trainee
Asen Kanchev	....	music production manager
Jérôme Petament	....	unit production manager (as Jérôme Pétament)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sophie Erbs	....	second assistant director
Rafaele Ravinet-Virbel	....	first assistant director (as Rafaèle Ravinet-Virbel)

Art Department
Laurent Baude	....	assistant art director
David Faivre	....	assistant art director
Antoine Platteau	....	set designer

Sound Department
Vladislav Boyadjiev	....	ProTools operator
Olivier Dô Hùu	....	sound re-recording mixer
Olivier Ferrari	....	assistant sound editor
Eric Grattepain	....	foley artist
Benoît Hillebrant	....	sound editor
Alain Lévy	....	post-synchronization
Olivier Mauvezin	....	sound recordist
Olivier Mauvezin	....	sound
Antoine Mercier	....	boom operator

Camera and Electrical Department
Aurélien Dubois	....	second assistant camera
Nicolas Juge	....	electrician
Philippe Quaisse	....	still photographer
Olivier Rodriguez	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joyce Nashawati	....	assistant costumer

Editorial Department
Guerric Catala	....	assistant editor
Esther Frey	....	assistant editor

Music Department
The Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra	....	orchestra
Vincent Coq	....	musician
Jérôme Lemonnier	....	musician: piano
Jérôme Lemonnier	....	orchestrator
Deyan Pavlov	....	conductor
Fréderic Petit	....	musician
Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian	....	musician
Trio Wanderer	....	musician
Fréderic Visconte	....	musician

Other crew
Sarah Blanc	....	production secretary
Marie-Christine Damiens	....	press attache
Véronique Hallot	....	administrator
Vincent Ooghe	....	production assistant
Jeremy Pronier	....	production assistant
Harmel Sbraire	....	acting coach: children
Stéphane Talagrand	....	location scout

Production Companies

• Diaphana Films (presents)
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• Région Ile-de-France (support) (as La Région Ile-de-France)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation) (as CineCinema)
• Banque Populaire Images 6 (in association with)
• Sofica Soficinéma (in association with)
• Les Films à Un Dollar (co-production)
• Procirep (with the support of) (as La Procirep)
• Angoa-Agicoa (with the support of) (as L'Angoa-Agicoa)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)

Distributors

• Diaphana Films (2006) (France) (theatrical) (as Diaphana Distribution)
• Agora Films S.A. (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Alamode Film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• Benelux Film Distribution (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Camera Film (2007) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Cinema Mondo (2006) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Les Films Séville (2006) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Mikado Film (2006) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Palisades Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Potential Films (2007) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Triangelfilm (2007) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Canvas (2009) (Belgium) (TV)
• Four Films (2007) (Chile) (all media)
• Lumina-Films (2007) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Video Film Express (200?) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Auditoriums de Boulogne  sound re-recording
• Kodak  film stock
• Laboratoires Éclair  laboratory services
• Mairie de Versailles  special thanks
• Panavision France  camera equipment provided by
• S.I.S.  sound re-recording
• SIF309 Film & Music Productions  film score recording

Also Known As:

The Page Turner (International: English title)
Turning Pages (Singapore: English title)

Runtime:

USA:85 min | France:85 min | Argentina:85 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | DTS

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:12 | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Sweden:7 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12

Filming Locations:

Maison de Radio-France, Paris 16, Paris, France

Company:

Diaphana Films

Trivia:

Visa d'exploitation en France # 11609.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When ten-year-old Mélanie enters the exam's room with the jury, the reflection of the boom mic is clearly seen on the black piano.

Soundtrack:

Prélude en ré mineur

The Page Turner

This is a French movie and why I selected to see this movie was because it was running for a long time in Amsterdam. I thought that it must be a good movie. I had seen the trailer earlier and as I do not understand French I found it to be a homely movie. But that was not the case, when I read the reviews before seeing the movie – I understood that it was a thriller.

So I got more interested and went to see it. The usher of the hall – looked like did not expect a colored Asian to come and see this movie – may be she did not see any in its 14 week run in the theatres. So when she saw me – she stopped me to check whether I am entering the right hall or not – and yes I was – I was going to see a French movie – La tourneuse de pages – meaning the turning of pages.

It is a beautifully told story about a young gifted girl who is a very good piano player. She wants to get admission in a music school – but fails at the admission test because one of the lady jury member is arrogant not to give an autograph to her mother, but to show off in front of other jury members – gives autograph to someone in the middle of this girls performance; in turn unintentionally distracting her and loosing her concentration, ending up not being selected. This leaves a deep scarce inside this girl's mind, who abandons playing piano.

The next scene spans after 10 years, when this girl is grown up and is appointed to work in a lawyer's firm. The owner of the firm is the husband of that female jury member because of whom this girl was not able to pursue her interest in music - playing piano. The remaining part of the story is about this young girl's revenge to this lady jury member. The young girl is played by beautiful Deborah Francois – who plays every emotion of the innocent young girl's character with perfect ease and comfort. All the credit to the director Denis Dercourt who uses images to transfer the thoughts going on the character's mind with such ease on screen. The story unfolds – we as audience expecting what are the next thing this girl is going to do? I would not tell the tactic the girl uses – it is really very interesting and people who want to study the portrayal of psychological intent on screen – should study the scenes, characters and the on screen incidents.

At the end of the movie – I was actually waiting for something more to happen and was disappointed that the movie got over so fast. Full credit to the other character of the lady jury member – Catherine Frot – who has displayed a decent, typically wealthy lady's character – by going into the skin of what this elite people do or behave.

Worth watching.