THREE CESAR NOMINATIONS!
Best Actress (Frot), Female Newcomer (Francis), Original Score
This thought-provoking hit thriller, made with an icy froideur, features an absolutely stunning performance by Déborah François, who turned heads in L’Enfant as the put-upon young mother. Denis Dercourt’s film is its polar opposite - a cool and precise meditation on a young woman’s obsessive desire to confront a defining moment from her past.
When 10 year-old piano prodigy Mélanie fails her audition for the national conservatory after being distracted by the thoughtless behaviour of one of her adjudicators, the famed concert pianist Ariane (Me & My Sister’s Catherine Frot), she bitterly locks away her instrument forever. Ten years later, Mélanie (Francois) has a coincidental (or is it?) encounter with the woman who shattered her confidence all those years ago. Her menacing intentions cloaked in poise, Mélanie is hired as nanny to Ariane’s son and revenge is at her fingertips…
Dercourt (himself a former professional violinist) patiently builds his taut revenge story into a sinister crescendo, expertly selecting classical works that heighten the Hitchcockian sense of expectancy and tightens the screws of suspense, never releasing his assured grip on this fascinating study of what drives and motivates women.
France 2006 - Thriller (85 mins)
In French with English Subtitles
Director: Denis Dercourt
Script: Denis Dercourt, Jacques Sotty
Cast: Catherine Frot, Deborah Francis, Pascal Greggory, Clotilde Mollet, Christine Citti
Sessions:
| Palace Norton St, Leichhardt | SAT 10 MAR | 6:30 PM | | | Palace Academy Twin, Paddington | SUN 11 MAR | 4:00 PM | |
Palace Academy Twin, Paddington | SAT 17 MAR | 8:40 PM | | | Palace Norton St, Leichhardt | SUN 18 MAR | 4:30 PM | |