Girl With A Pearl Earring
Reviewed by Shelley Cameron for Reel Movie Critic
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Cast
Scarlett Johansson	Griet
Colin Firth	Johannes Vermeer
Directed by Peter Webber. Drama. Rated PG-13. 95 Minutes.

Scarlett Johansson breathes life into the "Girl With a Pearl Earring." Adapted from Tracy Chevalier's novel and based on Johannes Vermeer's famous painting, this lushly beautiful film exploits the dynamism in each frame and Eduardo Serra's ("What Dreams May Come") widescreen cinematography is unmatched. The film works on the viewer as if gazing at a collection of the Dutch masters paintings. Though the narrative about a servant girl who becomes Vermeer's subject for the painting has the quality of a lyrical short story, the real bounty of the film lies in constructing a vision of the atmosphere and influences that might have been. Most especially, it succeeds at uncovering the process by which painting happens, specifically of this type and in this era. The harmonious direction and editing form a visual interplay of color, light, and composition that is extraordinary.

Johansson's pale, full, facial features are a perfect fit to portray Griet, this very familiar, yet totally unknown, girl. She does so with quiet grace, broken by moments when Griet's inner vitality breaks the surface. Although not much happens in the familiar storyline of jealously and class distinction, the essence of the characters is fleshed out. This is not a biographical snapshot of the life of Johannes Vermeer, nor is it meant to be. Yet, as played with understated power by Colin Firth, the artist he was, and the man he may have been, rings true.

We experience the luminous quality of Vermeer's work, often showing solitary figures in ordinary postures or outdoor expanses. Painted in soft icy blues and cool browns, at other times the scenes glow with the warmth of candlelight or rich poppy and saffron tones. Most notably, they capture the contrasting qualities of light and shadow.

Sharing this creative process between Vermeer and Griet is what drives the film. She understands that cleaning the windows may change the quality of light in the room where he paints, something that bewilders his wife. Through Griet, we share in the marvel of the camera obscura or the alchemy of mixing colors. Recognized in his lifetime as a talented artist, Vermeer nevertheless needed a wealthy patron like lecherous Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson) to commission his work. The practical scheming to provide for his large family may well have fallen to his mother-in-law, superbly depicted by Judith Parfit.

The score promotes the essence of this creative process, though sometimes swells with unnecessary force to intensify the lean drama, the critical point of which culminates in Vermeer's high-strung wife, Catherine, exquisitely played by Essie Davis. Her emotional reaction to the servant girl who shares an understanding for his art that she does not is unbearable for her, an understanding gained from Griet's artist father, before an accident that left him blind.