Themes: Life in the Arts, Servants and Employers, Sexual Awakening
Director: Peter Webber
Main Cast: Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt, Cillian Murphy
Release Year: 2003
Country: UK/LU
Run Time: 99 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
The subject of one of Johannes Vermeer's most enduring portraits becomes the focus of this biographical period piece from director Peter Webber. Girl With a Pearl Earring is told from the point of view of Griet (Scarlett Johansson), a teenaged girl who leaves her family's care in the country to become a servant for the Vermeer household in the comparatively bustling, canal-laden burgh of Delft. When she arrives, she finds herself at the low end of the servant totem pole, until she's allowed to clean "the master's" painting quarters. There, she catches the eye of the taciturn, reclusive Vermeer (Colin Firth), and over a period of time, he begins to craft her portrait. Of course, this does little to further his relationship with his jealous, pregnant wife, Catharina (Essie Davis), or with his most vocal benefactor, van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson), who often dictates what portraits Vermeer should paint. Meanwhile, Griet navigates a sweet, tentative relationship with a peasant boy her age (Cillian Murphy). Girl With a Pearl Earring had its North American premiere at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Griet (Scarlett Johansson) is a young woman living in the Netherlands in the 1660s. Her father was a ceramic painter who has recently
gone blind, rendering him unable to work and the family is in dire straits. Griet is subsequently sent to work as a
maid in the home of the painterJohannes Vermeer (Colin Firth).
Scarlett Johansson as Griet
In the course of their interactions as master and servant, Vermeer and Griet become casually acquainted and he learns of her
interest in painting and her knowledge of color and artistic composition. Vermeer subsequently begins giving her lessons in
mixing paints and other tasks, taking care to keep their meetings secret from his wife Catharina (Essie Davis). On a routine trip outside the house, Griet also befriends a young man named Pieter - the
Vermeer's butcher's son - (Cillian Murphy), who is quickly taken with her, though she is
slow to return his affections. Vermeer's patron van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson) sees Griet on a visit to the Vermeer household and asks the painter if he will give her up
to him to work in his own house. When Vermeer refuses, Van Ruijven commissions him to paint a
portrait of Griet for him. Vermeer accepts the commission, both to remain in Van Ruijven's good graces and because of his own
fascination with Griet.
As Vermeer secretly works on the eponymous painting, he and Griet grow
closer, while his relationship with his wife declines. Griet suffers with her feelings towards Vermeer, and has to fend off Van
Ruijven's attempt to rape her (which is thwarted when Catharina calls for Van Ruijven). After a painting session filled with
unrequited sexual tension where Vermeer pierces Griet's earlobes so she can wear his wife's pearl
earrings for the portrait, Griet runs to Pieter to make love. In the afterglow, Pieter proposes marriage, but she does not
accept. Vermeer's wife discovers Griet is modeling for the painting, and, filled with jealousy, she asks Vermeer why he did not
paint her instead, to which he responds that she does not understand art like Griet does. Insulted at being considered more
ignorant than a common servant, she orders Griet to leave their household. At the close of the film, the pearl earrings are
mysteriously delivered to Griet.
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