Girl with a Pearl Earring

Lutheran, The, Jan 2004 by Brussat, Frederic, Brussat, Mary Ann

MOVIE

Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on the imagined relationship of 17th century still-life painter Jan Vermeer and the young girl in this famous work of art. This exquisite film, directed by Peter Webber, is based on a best-selling novel by Tracy Chevalier. Scarlett Johansson plays Griet, a teenager who lives with her poor, Protestant parents in Delft, Holland, in 1665. Her father, a blind tile-maker, is close to his daughter and depends on her to describe what she sees out in the world. By luck, Griet gets a job as a maid in the house of the famous painter (Colin Firth). Her quiet and thoughtful way of doing things wins his respect.

Intuiting that this outsider is the one person in the household capable of Only understanding his paintings, he teaches her how to mix his paint and explains to her the function of his camera obscurci, a device to create an accurate reproduction of a panoramic exterior or interior. But tensions within this family escalate when his mother-in-law and wife become jealous of the attention given to Griet.

Girl with a Pearl Earring moves very slowly, and this is to its advantage, drawing us into another time when things were not so rushed. Cinematographer Eduardo Serra created a visually sumptuous drama that brilliantly conveys the importance of light in Vermeer's world. The musical score by Alexandre Desplat adds even more luster to this exceptionally fine film (Lion's Gate Films, PG-13-some sexual content).