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Directed by Peter Webber.
Written by Olivia Hetreed, based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier.
Director of photography,
Eduardo Serra.
Edited by Kate Evans.
Music by Alexandre Desplat.
Production designer, Ben van Os.
Produced by Andy Paterson and Anand
Tucker
Released by Lions Gate Films.
99 minutes. This
film is rated PG-13.
STARRING: Colin Firth (Johannes Vermeer), Scarlett Johansson (Griet), Tom
Wilkinson (van Ruijven), Judy Parfitt (Maria Thins), Cillian Murphy (Pieter)
and Essie Davis (Catharina).
In a one of the year’s
quietest, most intense films, Scarlett Johansson plays a
neglected young woman
with repressed longings who is suddenly
noticed by a depressed but observant older man. As
their relationship grows, the man is tempted
to cast off his marital responsibilities,
while she gets a taste of being recognized and loved for the first time.
Nope, I'm not talking about
Lost in Translation (although I could be).
Girl with a Pearl Earring
is Peter Webber’s film about the origins of the famous painting.
This is the story of Griet, a girl sent to work as a maid in order to
aid her family; her father has lost his sight, and they need all the
help they can get. She happens into the house of Johannes Vermeer, where
she is the latest employee of a quiet, troubled household. Apparently
the lord of the manor has a reputation regarding his experience with
maids. But it quickly becomes apparent that he is the least of her
worries.
Looking at the painting, I never would have
thought of Johansson as a good choice to play the figure who inspired
it. But this supremely talented actress makes it
work. Webber
captures Johansson's unique ability to suggest deep reservoirs of
intelligence and emotion concealed behind those large, dark, mature eyes
and that expressive face, which
still seems stuck in adolescence. In
doing so, he finds the precise passion that indwells the painting, so
when we finally see it, we don't blink; it seems perfectly plausible
that this is what someone would paint after looking at Johansson for
hours. An actress has not communicated so much through so little since Juliette Binoche in Three Colors: Blue.
Fortunately, they have found an actor who can
bring the same amount of gravity to the screen in
order to portray the painter. I
never would have thought of Colin Firth for the
portrayal of a contemplative,
passionate painter, but he finds in Johannes Vermeer material for what
may indeed be his best performance. He is able to make the intense,
brooding figure intriguing without making him laughably morose. His hair
and costume do seem a bit too precious, but I was surprised at how much
chemistry and tension Webber was able to develop between the nearly silent
scenes between Vermeer and Griet, the maid who mystifies him.
Strong supporting work makes
the film even richer. Tom Wilkinson (In the
Bedroom) plays van Ruijven,
a lecherous but wealthy patron
who keeps the Vermeer home
afloat. Essie Davis is Catharina, Vermeer's statuesque wife, possessed
of both a cold beauty and a volatile temper. Maria
Thins, Catharina's mother, is played by Judy Parfitt,
who makes her a formidable figure whose wicked arrogance is
cracked by the fragility of her financial condition. This year's "it
boy" Cillian Murphy (star of 28 Days Later, who also appears in
Cold
Mountain) plays the local butcher boy who thinks he's
found a good catch
in the subservient Griet.
The highlight of the film, though, is its
"painterly" look. The cinematography and set design are a perfect
marriage of period detail, color, and light. I won't be surprised if
there's a coffee table book published with large glossy stills from the
film. It's gorgeous.
Watching the film, I found myself easing into a
reflective, contemplative state that movies rarely allow an audience to
reach. It is not that it's slow--while very little is said or done,
there are important things happening in every minute of the film:
curiosities developed, risks taken,
as well as covert endeavors
and revelations. But
even more importantly, by inviting us to look closely for hints of
emotion and suggestions of betrayal or sympathy, it quietly prepares us
to approach Vermeer's visual art with sharper discernment.
We are never
lectured about the art, but it
inspired instead to look
deeper.
I wish it could have taken this even further.
But perhaps the most important story that the
film has to tell is the same as another, far superior film about art: La
Belle Noiseuse. Girl with the Pearl Earring is about the liberating and
inspiring experience of being seen. This poor, abused, overlooked girl
never intentionally does a thing to draw Vermeer's attention; in fact,
at first she avoids his gaze. But when his keen vision catches in her
something of substance and of shared longing--not for erotic
adventures, but for enlightenment--it is as if, to alter a line from
e. e. cummings, "the eyes of her eyes are opened."
Griet is a fairly simple character, so Johansson
does not have as far to go as she does in Lost in Translation.
But to have given us two performances as memorable as these in one year,
she is quickly taking her place as the most promising actress of her
generation.
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