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Girl with a Pearl Earring

 
Movies:

Girl With a Pearl Earring

  • Director: Peter Webber
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: Drama
  • Movie Type: Biopic
  • 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

Cast

Essie Davis - Catharina; Joanna Scanlan - Tanneke; Alakina Mann - Cornelia; John McEnery - Apothecary; Chris McHallem - Griet's Father; Gabrielle Reidy - Griet's Mother; Geoff Bell - Paul The Butcher; Anna Popplewell - Maertge; Rollo Weeks - Frans; Anaïs Nepper - Lisbeth; Mélanie Meyfroid - Aleydis; Nathan Nepper - Johannes; Charlotte Carpenter - Baby Franciscus; Lola Carpenter - Baby Franciscus; Olivia Chauveau - Baby Franciscus; Virginie Colin - Emile Van Ruijven; Sarah Drews - Van Ruijven's Daughter; Christelle Bulckaen - Wet Nurse; Gintare Parulyte - Model; Claire Johnston - White Haired Woman; Marc Maes - Old Gentleman; Père Robert Sibenaler - Priest; Joe Reavis - Servant 2; Martin Serene - Sergeant; Chris Kelly - Gay Blade; Dustin James - Servant 1

Credit

Christina Schaffer - Art Director, Anna Campeau - Associate Producer, Rebby Gregg - Associate Producer, Dirk Bonbey - Boom Operator, Leo Davis - Casting, Jimmy De Brabant - Co-producer, Matthew T. Gannon - Co-producer, Jason Constantine - Co-producer, Dien van Straalen - Costume Designer, Sean Guest - First Assistant Director, Peter Webber - Director, Andy Paterson - Second Unit Director, Kate Evans - Editor, Cameron Mccracken - Executive Producer, Peter Block - Executive Producer, François Ivernel - Executive Producer, Tom Ortenberg - Executive Producer, Duncan Reid - Executive Producer, Daria Jovicic - Executive Producer, Philip Erdoes - Executive Producer, Nick Drake - Executive Producer, Jenny Shircore - Hair Styles, Cecile Shircore - Hair Styles, Aurélie Elich - Hair Styles, Guy Tannahill - Line Producer, Alexandre Desplat - Composer (Music Score), Jenny Shircore - Makeup, Cecile Shircore - Makeup, Aurélie Elich - Makeup, Mike Proudfoot - Camera Operator, Johnny Feurer - Camera Operator, Ben Van Os - Production Designer, Jos van der Linden - Production Designer, Bénédicte Humble - Production Designer, Eduardo Serra - Cinematographer, Andy Paterson - Producer, Anand Tucker - Producer, Todd Van Hulzen - Set Designer, Lawrence Michael - Special Effects, Fabrice Annicchiarico - Special Effects, François Gaubert - Special Effects, Roger Maricourt - Special Effects, Hubert Devinck - Special Effects, Bruno Bourlieu - Special Effects, Carlo Thoss - Sound/Sound Designer, Sébastian "Bazooka" Peiffer - Unit Production Manager, Olivia Hetreed - Screenwriter, Ambroise Gayet - Production Assistant, Manuel Alves Pereira - Model Effects, Claude Atanassian - Gaffer, Tony Turner - Key Grip, Joanne Reichling - Production Coordinator, Nigel Heath - Re-Recording Mixer, James Feltham - Re-Recording Mixer, Natasha Coombs - Script Supervisor, Beatrice Pettovich - Second Assistant Director, Julian Slater - Sound Effects Director, Alain Couty - Special Effects Coordinator, Alf Trafmontin - Steadicam Operator, Jaap A. Buitendijk - Still Photographer, Nigel Heath - Supervising Sound Editor, Julian Slater - Supervising Sound Editor, Marianne Leemans - Costume/Wardrobe, Marie Thérèse Jacobse - Costume/Wardrobe, Odile Gregoire - Costume/Wardrobe, Pelger Van Laar - Costume/Wardrobe, Marita Schoonheijm - Costume/Wardrobe, Van Laar - Costume/Wardrobe, Monique Flippo - Costume/Wardrobe, Carla Kienhuis - Costume/Wardrobe, Hermien Hollander - Costume/Wardrobe, Koos Glasbeek - Costume/Wardrobe, Marcella Hamelinck - Costume/Wardrobe, Dan Morgan - ADR Editor, Ricardo Galvao - Art Department Assistant, Stéphanie Rass - Art Department Assistant, Robinson Savary - Art Department Assistant, Anita Burger - Assistant Hair, Annabel Hill - Assistant Hair, Evelyne Sittig - Assistant Hair, Anita Burger - Assistant Makeup, Annabel Hill - Assistant Makeup, Evelyne Sittig - Assistant Makeup, François Dickes - Buyer, Sébastien Danos - Buyer, Blandine Schmitt - Construction Coordinator, Frank Garadiner - Costumes Assistant, Marrielle Vos - Costumes Supervisor, Dan Morgan - Dialogue Editor, Claudio Campana - Draftsman, Joe Tolen - Electrician, Helder Alves Da Silva - Electrician, Pierre Dermience - Electrician, Kevin Dresse - Electrician, Antoine Ducep - Electrician, Mick Durlacher - Electrician, Arnout Glas - Electrician, Philippe Pesci - Electrician, Jose Pinto De Jesus - Electrician, Sarah Trowse - First Assistant Accountant, Peter Burgis - Foley Artist, Andi Derrick - Foley Artist, Arthur Graley - Foley Editor, Patricia Kretschmer - Personal Assistant, Maurice Landsberger - Production Accountant, Nigel Hughes - Scenic Artist, Temple Clark - Storyboard Artist, Cécile Heideman - Set Decorator, Tracy Chevalier - Book Author, Caudia Paterson - ADR Loop Group, Catriona Paterson - ADR Loop Group, Sophie Timmis - ADR Loop Group, Tamara Short - ADR Loop Group, Louis Elman - ADR Voice Casting, Reinhold Broil - Construction Foreman, Paddy Paterson - Construction Foreman, Ahmed Shouman - Driver, Johnny Feurer - Focus Puller, Wolfgang Wesemann - Focus Puller, Peter Brown - Production Secretary, Luis Martinez - Swing Gang, Nuno Goncalves - Swing Gang, Michael Labuta - Swing Gang, Fahir Hodzic - Swing Gang, Olivier Nunninger - Swing Gang, Walter Oliveira Pereira - Swing Gang, Maximino Lousada - Swing Gang, Emanuel Ferreira Perreira - Swing Gang, Jim Probyn - Third Assistant Director, Stefan Magnusson - Third Assistant Director, Mike Roberts - Video Playback, Karin Van Der Wrff - Art Department Coordinator, Andrew Melhuish - Assistant Editor, Alain Boucherie - Assistant Standby Props, Klaus Bienen - Properties Maker, Manu Demoulling - Standby Properties, Steve Lambert - Carpenter, Christian Seidel - Carpenter, Francois Mast - Carpenter, Sebastien Thiry - Carpenter, Uwe Belke - Carpenter, Dieter Schmidt - Carpenter, Raphael Thiry - Carpenter, Christophe Kirchbaum - Carpenter, Thierry Peroux - Carpenter, Michael Bernardy - Carpenter, Thomas Bernardy - Carpenter, Löel Mast - Carpenter, Franck Winterstein - Carpenter, Jérome Néurenhausen - Carpenter, Thomas Ferrandis - Carpenter, Patrick Guerbette - Carpenter, Frank Morisseau - Carpenter, John Paul Gormley - Carpenter, Patrick Essex - Carpenter, Fabien Domange - Carpenter, Bertrand Renaud - Carpenter, Soren Koerber - Carpenter, Graham Mitchell - Carpenter, Jochen Vogt - Carpenter, Dave Chettleborough - Carpenter, Anton Weber - Carpenter, Matthias Müller - Carpenter, Christian Seidel - Carpenter, Lionel Deutsch - Assistant Carpenter

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Wikipedia: Girl with a Pearl Earring (film)
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Girl with a Pearl Earring

Poster for Girl With a Pearl Earring
Directed by Peter Webber
Produced by Andy Paterson
Anand Tucker
Written by Olivia Hetreed (screenplay)
Tracy Chevalier (novel)
Starring Colin Firth
Scarlett Johansson
Tom Wilkinson
Essie Davis
Cillian Murphy
Judy Parfitt
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography Eduardo Serra
Editing by Kate Evans
Distributed by Flag of Canada Lions Gate Entertainment
Flag of the United Kingdom Pathé
Release date(s) Flag of the United States December 12, 2003
Flag of the United Kingdom January 16, 2004
Running time 95 min.
Country United Kingdom
Luxembourg
Language English
Budget $12,000,000[1]

Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 2003 United Kingdom/Luxembourg drama film directed by Peter Webber. The screenplay was adapted by screenwriter Olivia Hetreed based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson and Cillian Murphy. The film is named after a painting of the same name by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The film uses a bright color scheme as in Vermeer's paintings.

Contents

Plot

Vermeer's original painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring from 1665

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 painter Johannes 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.

Cast

Awards and nominations

Wins

  • 2003 - Camerimage Bronze Frog - Eduardo Serra
  • 2003 - Dinard British Film Festival Audience Award - Peter Webber
  • 2003 - Dinard British Film Festival Golden Hitchcock - Peter Webber
  • 2003 - San Diego Film Critics Society Award - Best Cinematography - Eduardo Serra
  • 2003 - San Sebastián International Film Festival - Best Cinematography - Eduardo Serra
  • 2003 - C.I.C.A.E. Award - Peter Webber
  • 2004 - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award - Best Cinematography - Eduardo Serra

Nominations

Soundtrack

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.

References

  1. ^ Delesse, Olivier (2002 October 3-6). "Dinard Awards Two Top Prizes to 'Girl' (Pathé film budget)". Dinard British Film Festival (FilmFestivals.com). http://www.filmfestivals.com/cgi-bin/fest_content/festivals.pl?fest=dinard2002&year=2002&lang=en&partner=&page=daily. 
  2. ^ 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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