Themes: Life in the Arts, Servants and Employers, Sexual Awakening
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, a ceramic painter, has recently gone blind, rendering him unable to work and putting his family in dire straits. Griet is subsequently sent to work as a maid in the home of the painterJohannes Vermeer (Colin Firth).
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), who would react very negatively if she found out that Griet and Vermeer were spending so much time together. In contrast, Vermeer's pragmatic mother-in-law (Judy Parfitt) sees Griet as a catalyzing and stabilizing force in Vermeer's career. On a routine trip outside the house, Griet also befriends a young man named Pieter (Cillian Murphy), the Vermeers' butcher's son, 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 Griet suffers through her fascination with Vermeer and his paintings, she also has to fend off Van Ruijven's attempt to rape her (which is thwarted when Catharina calls for Griet). After a painting session in which Vermeer pierces Griet's earlobe so she can wear one of his wife's pearl earrings for the portrait, Griet runs to Pieter to be consoled.
The soundtrack was released in 2004 and composed by Alexandre Desplat.
Differences between the novel and the film
Most of the events in the novel's epilogue, such as Griet's marriage to Pieter and their two children, Jan and Frans, are not shown in the film.
In the novel, there is a subplot involving Griet's younger sister, who eventually dies from the plague. The film does not show any of Greit's siblings.
In the novel, van Leeuwenhoek warns Griet not to get too close to Vermeer, but he is absent from the film and his lines are given to Pieter.
In the novel, Griet and Tanneke have a difficult relationship, but in the movie, they seem to get along. This is shown by Tanneke's teasing Griet about Pieter and her willingness to chat and gossip.[2]
In the novel, Griet pierces her left and right earlobe herself. In the film, Vermeer pierces the left one for her, while she does not have to pierce her right lobe.
^David Morrissey played Van Leeuwenhoek in the film's original cut but his scenes were deleted from the completed film (Williams, Zoe (12 November 2005). "Up for the big league," The Guardian, Guardian News and Media.)
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