La Tourneuse de pages (2006)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Ariane	Catherine Frot
Mélanie	Déborah François
Jean Fouchécourt	Pascal Greggory	½
Laurent	Xavier De Guillebon	½
Madame Provoust	Christine Citti
Virginie	Clotilde Mollet	½
Tristan	Antoine Martynciow
Mélanie enfant	Julie Richalet

Review

This slick, delicate and incredibly good-looking film, written and directed by music professor Denis Dercourt, combines its affectionate tribute to music and the piano with a seductive but ultimately conventional suspense mystery about vengeance, class gaps and eroticism. The tight direction, and wonderfully detailed musical and technical aspects makes La Tourneuse de pages absorbing throughout most of its economical running time, but the psychology of the title character is too constructed and speculative, making the pay-off a disappointment. The acting is largely fine, however, especially from the two female leads. Dercourt photographs Déborah François with seductive precision, and presents her as a lolita femme fatale, giving François the cue to revel in front of his tantalizing lens. The film is at times electrifyingly erotic, but Dercourt/Sotty's script unfortunately isn't strong enough to keep up.