Comments on: The Page Turner – film review

By: veronika

veronika — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:18:30 +0000

Hi all, i thought this film was great. Being a cellist myself and playing in a trio I know how it is with musicians. the choice of music was beautiful, the acting great, especially for catherine frot who usually plays “ditsy” parts. I wonder if anyone knows the location of the chateau outside paris. it looks like the chateau of yves montand/simone signoret. i saw a docu of simone and they showed a “house” which looked identical.
I watched this movie for just enjoyment, not going into psychological “dealings”. quite believable that ariane could have fallen for melanie, because of her being so fragile.

By: Saranya

Saranya — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:58:21 +0000

I saw the film and read some of the comments and your blog. What I feel is that the pianist’s surprise and alarm at the page turner’s disappearance at the right time went away too soon due to her love for the latter. This I found somewhat strange. Secondly, if the pianist’s sons fingers were destroyed forever (which I was not sure on) then that is too bad for the page turner to do I feel. It makes us feel her as less human.

By: Mike Saunders

Mike Saunders — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:52:33 +0000

I chanced on this film, knowing nothing about it, and missed the first ten minutes. However, I was drawn very deeply into it by the characters of Ariane and Melanie: both beautiful women, and Ariane reminding me a little of the great Arletty.
I guessed that the motivation of Melanie’s job applications was revenge, and the suspense of what form it would take built throughout the film.

It was also an engrossing study of bourgeoise French manners, mainly within the family itself. The occasional appearance of the other two trio partners showed the tension between the necessity for artistic perfection and the irrepressibility of male sexuality.

Although Ariane is the sort of villain of the piece, she gained a lot of my sympathy when she revealed that everything the family had came from her husband’s side. Her rudeness towards Melanie is partially excusable in that Ariane is a victim of the fame she pursues. Autograph-signing confirms her status and importance whilst, at the same time, she has lost touch with her other instincts and inclinations, revealed by her eventual admission of her love for Melanie.

By: maria

maria — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:16:39 +0000

Hi, maybe the dedication, determination, work ethic and focus that were initially required for melanie’s music became subverted into her revenge fantasy and I agree a case of arrested development ensued. Maybe all creative people have a slight madness? Two things that were left hinted at 1. Maybe Melanie was behind the hit and run? Her smile when hearing the effect that this had on Ariane was intriging Also 2. The phone calls to her mother reassuring her that all was going well..just the usual phone calls to a mum? or was mum aware of the plan and had nurtured the madness? Why show these scenes if not to tease us of this possibility? I found the film all the more interesting for NOT spelling out melanies interior world.

By: Werth

Werth — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:08:05 +0000

And that’s the dangerous game you play with revenge… you sacrafice precious time that can never be returned.

By: Werth

Werth — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:00:49 +0000

John,

I like how your one blog gets this whole dialogue started, it’s great discussion! The insights from the response to your review are all great, and very engaging. I just got the movie on netflix, I wouldn’t have known about it, but by chance I came across it on youtube!

James,

You said, “She had no emotional arc, she ended the same way she started; neither learning anything about the nature of revenge, herself, the wider world, why you have to let go etc. ”

This is a great point, but I would contend that showing the character in her stationary mental and emotional state revealed how completely consuming and debilitating revenge is, and that in seeking revenge, a person cannot grow, but in fact they are frozen in time, not allowing themselves the future, the future for them is the extension or the abridgment of that traumatic moment in the present (her piano audition) and I think this is what we saw throughout the film. She never progressed, she never regressed, she was stationary, not moving forward or backward.

R. Werth

By: Patti Abbott

Patti Abbott — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:35:39 +0000

I thought it was a brilliant film, all the more suspenseful for its quiet moments. And you are very right, Hollywood would have to make her actions bigger, less subtle. So much of the movie was in facial expressions, small gestures. It managed to create a terrifying atmosphere with only a few acts of violence, namely the bow to the foot move. The palpable horror was overwhelming.

I also love your book list. I hope they don’t destroy Revolutionary Road with the upcoming movie. That was a sublime book–along with Easter Parade and Eleven Kinds of Loneliness.

jb says: Hey, Patti, don’t go see Revolutionary Road. I haven’t seen it, of course, but I know it won’t live up to the book.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:11:21 +0000

Well I didn’t feel that the film provided me with any real psychological insight, character or motivation wise, as far as the dynamic of revenge was meaning to her. It seems to me one can impose what ever meaning and relevance one likes because it’s got subtitles. I believe that it was just underwritten.
Still I’m off now for a spoon feed, and a nappy change. Goo goo..
Vic.

jb says: Hi Vic. Don’t forget to clean your teeth.