Girl With a Pearl Earring

Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly Beautiful
Review: Like Vermeer's paintings, I feel that "Girl With a Pearl Earring" is a masterpiece; it is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.
I am an avid reader, and I read the book before I saw the movie. In my experience, seldom does a film even begin to capture the beauty of a good book. However, this film has shown me that my previous theory is not always true; "Girl With a Pearl Earring" captures most, if not all, of the beauty of the book while maintaining cinematic excellence.

While I do agree with a few of the other reviewers' view that certain wonderful parts of the book were left out of the movie, this is understandable; for the most part, I feel that the right moments were captured.
I do believe that my favorite aspects of this film are the colors used and the silence that prevails throughout the film. The colors used were absolutely beautiful: almost too dark, plush, real. The strategically-placed lack of talking also left more the imagination, making it easy for viewers to fill in the silences with imagined thoughts.
I also thought that the casting was perfect. Scarlett Johansson resembles the girl with a pearl earring in Vermeer's famous painting very closely, and Colin Firth portrayed Vermeer with a skill I never knew he had.

This tale of a girl whose blinded father can no longer support her Protestant family and is forced to send her off to be a maid in a Catholic artist's household is poignant and vividly "painted" into a masterpiece of a film. The underlying emotions between silences and syllables are heartwrenching and true to human form.
I would recommend this beautiful film to anyone with interest in art, history, or wonderfully-told fiction. It is a believable account of what could have been an impetus for Vermeer's painting and its terrifying consequences.

Rating:
Summary: The 36th Masterpiece
Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring is a richly textured movie in which the atmosphere of 17th century Holland has been recreated with artistic precision. Within this detailed melancholy fantasy, various themes arise to make this story visually and intellectually compelling.

The Protestant daughter of a Delft tile painter (Griet) takes a position as a maid in a Catholic family. Her father has lost his sight in a kiln accident and she must find work to help support her family. Vermeer's wife, Catharina (Essie Davis), is in desperate need of help in her constant state of pregnancy. Essie Davis gives a spectacular and often heart-wrenching performance while Judy Parfitt is perfect as Vermeer's conniving mother-in-law.

On the first viewing many of the characters may seem to be in a trance, almost living out their lives in quiet desperation. What they seek to express is often only portrayed by a glance or an accidental touch. Griet is overpowered by Vermeer's chemistry on more than one occasion and the movie is almost a thoughtful portrayal of forbidden love steeped in a solitary stillness. The sound track instantly captures the deepest part of your soul and envelopes you in a fantasy of notes that are highly sensitive to the changing scenes.

From the moment you see Griet peeling onions in a dank kitchen, you know this is going to be an artistic movie. If you love cooking scenes, this has memorable culinary preparation.

It wasn't until the second viewing that I realized she was making a color palate out of the various vegetables. In fact, it is very easy to miss a variety of significant details because the scenes are dark and mysterious. After watching this movie three times I realized how many details you miss if you only watch this movie once. It is truly like a slow moving painting that reveals the inner workings of a 17th century household. Of course the focus is an art studio, which serves as an escape from the harshness of life in Delft, Holland.

While Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) enjoys a studio filled with light, the rest of the house seems dark and cloistered. Only during the "birth feast" scenes do we begin to appreciate the beauty of candlelight and the flickering of the candles is sumptuously filmed.

Griet's choices and attitude towards life are unexpected and therefore misunderstood by most of the characters. Vermeer's wife and children display a hatred and jealousy that seems to stem from their own view of the world. Griet truly does take on the role of a Dutch Cinderella for much of the movie although the prince is a much more realistic choice. Despite her exhaustion from enduring menial tasks, she endures the daily chores in order to experience the pleasures of occasionally mixing paint in a sequestered setting.

Vermeer instantly recognizes Griet's potential, all while being highly amused by her child-like appreciation of his complex world. Even Vermeer's patron views the world as a reflection of his own inner torments. He assumes Griet and Vermeer are acting out their baser impulses. In fact, Griet almost takes on the role of a sacrifice in order to help support Vermeer's family.

The almost surreal ear-piercing scene seems to be a pivotal point in her change from maid to woman and also observe how Vermeer holds his wife's hand after she tries to destroy a painting. Both women seem to play occasional roles as the sacrifice for their family's survival. Griet seems to find comfort in the arms of local butcher boy Pieter all while her heart is lost in an art studio. She seems to be unconsciously seeking a higher existence all while realizing her heart may never permanently live in the heaven of a highly aesthetic existence.

This movie is one of the few literary adaptations that will mysteriously cause you to want to go find the book and discover all the secrets of the unexplained and often shadowy events shown on screen and never fully explained. Oh, and if you turn on the subtitles, you can read additional lines that cannot be heard on the DVD.

Colin Firth's acting will steal your heart and there are rare moments where you can actually imagine all the feelings and desires of the characters. Brief moments of humor during the "camera obscura" scene are a relief from the sheer torture of unfulfilled desires.

I spent some time thinking about Griet's name. Grit can be responsible for causing a pearl to form, although pearls do form from food particles and other irritants. Grit is not far from Griet and Griet is definitely a catalyst for the creation of a physical pearl (the painting) all while almost literally becoming a pearl cast before a swine. The scene of her hair flowing about her shoulders also reminded me of Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

While the butcher's son Pieter recognizes Griet as the pearl he wants to possess, it is Vermeer who seems to recognize Griet's ability to be the "grit" that will cause him enough pain or inspiration to create salient art. He seems to invite her into his shell/studio and there she is allowed to create, inspire, experience, learn and dream.

While many may see the artist-muse relationship between Griet and Vermeer as one filled with sexual tension, I see it more as a relationship of mutual appreciation which leads to love. Griet and Vermeer share a world they both understand. Together they create enduring beauty and that in itself is intoxicating.

One of the most beautiful moments in this movie is when Vermeer shows respect by not "casting" Griet in the role of maid for his lecherous patron Van Ruijven. Not only does he take financial risks to protect her reputation, he values her presence in his life and literally tears up his house to find an item she is accused of stealing.

Peter Webber has created a lasting work of art that could almost be considered to be the 36th masterpiece.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

Rating:
Summary: A silent film
Review: I have not read the book yet but I plan too.
I really enjoyed this movie the actors spoke more with looks the words though..it was more like watching a silent movie. It made you have to think of what was going on in each of their minds. This was a good and a bad thing. For example: The problem I had with the movie is I couldn't figure out what type of religion Grit was..before she went to the Painter's house her mother told her to try not to listen to the Catholic prayers and if she must box her ears. I keep thinking if I understood the religion then I would understand why she kept her hair covered. And maybe why Grit did certain things she did. Other then that I did enjoy the movie...it was visually beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: One major flaw
Review: The painting by Vermeer inspired a novel, upon which this film is based. The photography, settings, lighting and costumes are sumptuous, beautifully reflecting Vermeer's paintings, and the casting, acting and script are excellent.

However, this film has one major flaw; a flaw shared by nearly all period films. Rather than utilizing the splendid music of this period, the film makers paid good money for a trite, hackneyed, even annoying musical score, which, rather than being part of the film is separate from it, even alien to it.

After the first viewing, one might turn off the sound for future viewings and watch the film while playing CDs of 17th century music.

Rating:
Summary: The Legend Behind The Girl
Review: Tracy Chevalier's novel: 'The Girl With a Pearl Earring' Set in the city of Delft in 17th century Holland, I found to be spellbinding and very admirable. Scarlett Johansson's portrayal of young Griet, the daughter of a former tile painter sent across town to serve the Vermeer household--was very convincing in her role, as was Colin Firth as the painter.
The costumes were brilliant, as well as the setting and effects. And it was refreshing that-- though Johannes Vermeer was drawn to Griet's beauty and attracted to her, he respects and appreciates her-- and values the sanctity of marriage. You do not find that in many movies--as, honestly, I expected adultery and violence. But, I felt his wife's pain as she queried heartbrokenly: "Why don't you ever paint ME?"
When Griet's beauty attracted Vermeer's lecherous patron, Van Ruijven, I feared the worst. But, I was relieved when she connected with the young butcher Pieter.
All in all, I was delighted as well as relieved by the plot as well as with the climax of the movie. And, perhaps it is understated, but it was refreshing. My only disappointment? A little more drama and excitement would have helped keep me riveted. And, we never figure out what happens with the girl in the end--and I pray that she married the butcher! Still... I am inspired to read the book!

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Scenery
Review: This movie has great lighting and beautifully created scenery reminiscent of a Vermeer painting. The creators of this movie did a wonderful job recreating an atmosphere that has you believing you are in Vermeers studio. Each scene is almost a painting in itself. This adaptation of the book falls down in the screen writing - there is no compelling conflict or drama to hold your interest which is too bad because it is a good book and very artistically filmed movie.

Rating:
Summary: A portrait of an artist never to be. Subtle yet stunning.
Review: The best chess players possess the mechanics of the game before their first pawn, and math prodigies see equations in ordinary life before they've even learned their meaning. And so, "Girl With a Pearl Earring" argues, it goes with artists - the arrangement of shade and texture is hard-wired into their senses; they understand, intrinsically, what series of brushstrokes, with which series of colors, need to be made to create a satin skirt that looks alive.

When handmaiden Griet chops vegetables in 1665 Holland, she arranges the beats, onions and cabbage in order of color that adheres to a certain logic inside her brain. Later, when she's asked by famous Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) to name the colors in the clouds outside his studio window, Griet at first says white. Vermeer knows she sees more. Griet does too. She sees yellow. Then blue. Then gray. She knows what he knows.

In a movie that does justice to Tracy Chevalier's quiet, powerful source novel, the tragedy is Griet, played mostly in silence by Scarlett Johannson, cannot do anything with what she knows but become Vermeer's muse, and eventually his subject in his best-known, titular painting. That in itself is dangerous:

The women of the Vermeer house, wife Catharina (Essie Davis) and mother-in-law Maria Thins (Judy Parfitt), are brittle and insecure; they need Vermeer to keep painting on terms they consistently want to change for a fickle, vicious patron in Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson) who enjoys the women in Vermeer's paintings as much as he enjoys the paintings. "You are a fly in (Van Ruijven's) web," Maria Thins says to Griet. "Just like the rest of us." Vermeer was a slow painter, needing nearly divine intervention to begin a work, and months of tinkering to complete one. Van Ruijven, thus, is a necessity.
"Girl With a Pearl Earring" is a subtle work, anchored by Johannson, who radiates Griet's fierce intelligence and curiosity underneath the customary courtesies and nods of a maid. This is a shrewd, darkly comic girl discovering the complexities, and fruits, of aristocratic life, and preferring them a to night out with the butcher's son. Could an indentured maid enjoy a better life than the "free" wife of a meat merchant? If it involves an art studio, Griet seems to think, maybe.

Eduardo Serra's distinct camerawork matches Vermeer's moody paintings - shades of dark and light, cramped interiors, a slight haze to any shot outdoors. When Griet and a young suitor walk the fields outside town, the sky is a bright, alive tan - something out of a Terrence Malick film. Director Peter Webber has to linger on Johannson's face a great deal in preparation for the painting, so you'd better like it. Johannson's lips, it should be noted, give Angelina Jolie's a run for their money.
Griet does not mean trouble in the Vermeer household, but her sensuality makes her trouble, and the women of the house, out of boredom and pastime jealousy, badly want to make trouble. Vermeer, under the watch of Maria Thins, could never sleep with Griet. But he could make paints with her. And use his wife's earrings in a portrait. These deceits are more intimate than sex, and when Catharina begs her husband to paint her, his answer is more painful than adultery.

The film has a weakness: Firth. The British comedy veteran is a stooped-over failure as Vermeer, his constipated, oatmeal expressions passing for mercury. When Vermeer is supposed to ignite a passion in Griet, we can only believe it because Johannson, in breathless hyperventilation, sells it so well. One "intense" moment, where Vermeer meets Griet on the street in a hat the size of a Honda, is unintentionally funny.

And yet the final half-hour of "Girl With Pearl Earring," most of it involving Firth, gains momentum. Serra's camera becomes unmoored from its station and begins to bear down on its subjects with zooms and pans, the best of which frame Johannson as the painting will. It is a remarkable shot, and Johannson holds the pose. She does not much look like the girl in the painting, but she is the girl. So it goes, I'd argue, with acting.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful film about the making of a painting
Review: Based on the book by the same name, this film has less complexity then its source material, but it is still well done and is beautifully filmed, capturing the gorgeous light and the settings of Vermeer's Delft. The story concerns Vermeer's household and a young servant who is sympathetic to his artistic sensibility though she is constrained by gender and class strictures as well as the hostile family environment.

DVD extras are minimal -- a music video and the cable show Anatomy of a Scene on the movie's banquet scene. The film can be heard in English with English or Spanish subtitles.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, Taut, Retelling
Review: I've read a lot of reviews that said that this was a dull movie, which makes me believe that perhaps we need more Ritalin in the water system. This movie took a familiar, simple story, and made it beautiful, complex, and restrained. The seduction of a servant girl that provokes jealousy in the master's wife was perhaps the kernel of the story, but the way that the story refused to unfold completely made for a very pleasant, taut movie. Colin Firth seemed at first to have a one note role of quiet brooder, but his delight in Griet's grasp of the foundations of art amended my initial disappointment. Tom Wilkinson was fabulous as usual, and I was transfixed by Cillian Murphy's cheekbones. As for Scarlett Johansson... I continue my worship of her subtlety, restraint, and frugality of emotion.

As many others have said, it was a gorgeous movie. Beautiful light, colors, set, costumes, and of course, Johansson, who proved to be a perfect muse for Firth's Vermeer. I believe that Webber was actually trying to mimic the way that Vermeer tried to capture domestic scenes, and he succeeded admirably. It was a very interior movie, as was much of Vermeer's art, and it worked best while it remained inside the home.

It's been a long time since I read Chevalier's novel, so I can't remember how well it represented it, which may be to my benefit, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would watch it again just to watch the maid throw chickens around in the kitchen. 9 out of 10.

Rating:
Summary: Love the Book
Review: Having read the book by Tracy Chevalier, I had VERY high expectations for this movie. However, I was slightly disappointed that they chose to leave out a lot of the details that I felt made the book what it was.

With this aside, I did enjoy the movie version. Standing alone, I felt that it did very well depicting the relationship between Griet and Vermeer. I wanted to fall in love with Pieter everytime he was on the screen. Van Rijven is a disgusting (...), Catharina is a jealous (...) and I wanted to slap Cornelia every chance that I could get. Whereas in the book we heard Griet's thoughts, the movie did a very good job of bringing to life these thoughts and actually making you feel like you know what is going on in Griet's head.

I would reccomend anyone to see this movie at least once. And if you want to read the book too, read it after watching the movie, then watch the movie again. The book adds a lot to the story, but your expectations will be too high after reading such a wonderful book. It's like looking at a Vermeer, then watching a reprodution by another artist that leaves out what you fell in love with in the original.