Girl with a Pearl Earring - Peter Webber

Very little is known about Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s works and his life. The painter, whose most renowned work, “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” , which is also known as the Mona Lisa of the North, or the Dutch Mona Lisa, motivated the making of a top novel and intense film that goes by the same name. Based on Tracy Chevalier’s best-selling novel, Peter Webber's 2003 UK Film Girl with a Pearl Earring is a story that speculates the events that might have led to the spectacular painting's creation.

Set in the 17^th century, the film shows Vermeer (Colin Firth) as the passionate artist who puts his heart and soul into his work and is driven by the one detail that is missing in his household – inspiration. With a wife who’s perpetually jealous and whining, a mother who’d give her family’s soul to secure the approving nod of Vermeer’s lecherous patron, and a growing brood of children who inherit their mother’s cunning disposition, Vermeer is an intense but uninspired man. The beautification for his surrounding, the only one, comes from Griet (Scarlett Johansson) – the 17 year old Protestant housemaid who steps in to work for the artist’s wearisome household.

New to Delft (Holland) as a housemaid, Griet holds a single treasured possession – a simple square tile that her blinded father painted for her. Sensitive and dutiful, she serves the family in tedious labor as she does the household work, prepares the masters paint and assists him, meets her admiring lover boy (Cillian Murphy, a neighborhood butcher), tolerates the craftiness of the household, and washes from the artist’s soul the dust of everyday life.

She goes about her chores in subdued aggravation – Here the difference of class permits even children to sneer at the second strings. But the eye of an artist crowns radiance with respect. With her white as snow skin, inquiring eyes, rosy lips and transparent soul, Griet presumes the kind of beauty that no man can protect himself against, and becomes the artist’s secret muse. With her natural perception for light and color , the painter and his muse go further in developing a unique bond of deeper connection and artistic understanding. Consequently Vermeer, known for his painstaking slowness, and reproduction of minutest details begins to paint his depiction of the sublime maiden. He tenderly pierces her ears and adorns her with a single pearl earring, that which belongs to his wife, and his work of genius - The Girl with a Pearl Earring is thus born.

The film like any work of art is hard to tell apart as good or bad, it’s a period film that has both, its pros and cons. Its biggest minus point - character depictions are bothersome. The film tends to lack in a certain emotional quality. For instance it’s hard to distinguish what the Girl with a Pearl Earring (Griet) really feels. There’s a confusing sort of intimacy the artist and the muse share and the film doesn’t really give out Griet’s true and internal feelings. She’s somewhat infatuated and obedient to her master, but there are moments when she exhibits a stern and unwilling temperament. It is understadable that she’s supposed to feel nervous and apprehensive of their developing bond, but one never knows when to expect her to willingly submit to the artist’s demanding nature, or when her master would bring her to sharlply retort. This is a flaw that doesn’t emanate from the kind of complexity in a relationship that’s impossible to express or articulate, but comes through as something that is slightly unplanned for and overlooked by the filmmaker. Vermeer too is slightly confusing as  character, but this to gets away from scrutiny since he’s clearly intended to be a perplexed, moody, strange and introverted artist. It can be said that there is also an overdose of expressions in certain parts of the film - Vermeer’s evil and fussy wife for example could’ve done without the repulsive curve of her lips and the “elegant lisp”, which she uses to signify her vile personality and unseemly sophistication. She’s painful enough sans those supplements, so the film feels rather appalling in those parts.

On the other hand, the film has many impeccable strokes to make up. Peter Webber does his in subtle excellence while transporting us to 17th century Holland. We get a good feel of the country, with those carts and carriages all around the market square, the 17^th century houses, the maids covered in bonnets, the canal systems and bridges, the people traveling in boats etc. The film has plenty of pretty camera moves and the shots are picture perfect. Each frame looks like a gorgeous painting that Vermeer might have crafted himself. Many scenes restore the beauty of the artist’s previous works like Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, The Concert, View of Delft, The Kitchen Maid, The Music Lesson, Woman with a Pearl Necklace, and The Girl with a Wine Glass, to name a few. So it’s great cultural education too. And Griet, she’s awesome even when she’s awful. She can be awkward to look at sometimes, but she emerges as the kind of excellent beauty that typically draws an artist – with a breathtaking loveliness that has some amount of strangeness in its proportion. And finally, the moments of the movie where Vermeer paints Griet are done with masterly direction. They’re full of unusual sensuality, visual precision and immaculate beauty.

It would be unjust not to mention, but Tracy Chevalier was extremely delighted with the movie as a translation of her book. The film has also bagged a roll of Oscar nominations for art direction to its credits. Although Girl with a Pearl Earring isn’t consistent in pleasing, the film is ultimately satisfying – All in all, a pleasurable watch for those who are romantically inclined, those who merely want to delve into an appreciation of the artist, or those who simply want to have a quiet evening with a little bit of culture mixed in.