Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

The oil on canvas Girl with a Pearl Earring, painted circa 1665 by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), now hangs in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands, and is universally considered to be one of the great Dutch master’s defining works. However, some 340 years after its creation, it still remains somewhat of a mystery ‘ as does Vermeer enigmatic. The captivating young girl dressed in an exotic costume and looking over her shoulder has never been identified, leaving herself open to much interpretation by scholars and laymen alike. Based on Tracey Chevalier’s best-selling novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring (the cinematic debut of British director Peter Webber), is a fictional take on ‘the mystery behind the masterpiece’…

Set in Delft in 1665, it opens with the young Griet (Scarlett Johansson) being sent to work as a maid at the house of Vermeer (Colin Firth). Soon the frustrated, complex artist becomes captivated by her quiet beauty and, when he realises she has an intuitive understanding of his work, requests that she become his assistant, eventually posing for the eponymous painting.

Subliminal, and at times sensual, the story is told at a slow, gentle pace. And, to many, it could quite easily be viewed as a pretty dull movie about a single painting where not a lot happens. However, viewed as an insight into the life of a 17th-century Dutch artist, it is fascinating and absorbing.

The most striking aspect of this film has to be, though, the stunning Oscar-nominated cinematography by the Portugese Eduardo Serra. Aided by the art direction of Ben Van Os and set design by Cecile Heideman (also Oscar nominees), the extraordinary camerawork is a veritable tour de force of cinema. The entire film is like watching a Vermeer painting in motion with the same meticulous attention to detail ‘ especially light ‘ that Vermeer himself employed.

Also worth a special mention is the emotive acting by Johansson and the haunting, unobtrusive music by French composer Alexandre Desplat.

Living in the Netherlands, I was especially keen to see Dutch life from that period ‘ though felt somewhat cheated that the town of Delft was recreated and filmed in Luxembourg! However, so well done, it did succeed to help frame Vermeer’s, and indeed many, canvases by Dutch masters in a realistic, historical context.

A must-see if you live in the Netherlands though I do feel, for the rest, that those with an appreciation of Vermeer’s work will benefit most.

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