GPE gets points for its costumes and locations and also the music by Alexandre Desplat. All are quite enchanting, especially given that we don't have to live in such cramped conditions. This is a very visual movie. Lots of looks but a little lacking in emotional engagement.
Griet (Scarlett Johansson, very young) must go into service when her family falls on hard times. She becomes a maid in the house of Delft painter Vermeer (Colin Firth), given all manner of chores to do. Visits to the market attract the interest of the butcher's boy, Pieter (Cillian Murphy). Visits to the master's studio attract the interest of the artist himself. Little by little Vermeer places greater trust in Griet, asking her to buy raw materials for the paints and even to mix the colours herself. Vermeer suggests that Griet be moved to sleep in the attic, so that she can clean up first thing and her bed below stairs can be given back to head servant Tanneke (Joanna Scanlan). Every decision provokes suspicion and jealousy, in a house full of chickens and only one cockerel.
The young Johansson, attired for the 17th century period, so very pale, looks so very otherworldly. This is a part of the movie's fascination. It is a story of sexual, in a limited way, as well as aesthetic awakening. An awakening of the powers of perception. As Catharina gives birth and then becomes pregnant again, so her husband gives birth to works of art, ready to be passed on to collectors such as Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson). Griet's support to the artist arouses jealousy in the household, and everything draws down to the final insult, Vermeer's decision to make a model of the maid herself. Desplat's music carries a Hogwartsy sense of wonder, making something magical out of something actually quite scientific in its endeavour.
Yet, in the end, this is a movie about, well, not very much. Inspired by a novel, I think, and if so, an attempt to make something bigger out of the contribution of a face in a painting. The girl with the pearl earring only exists to posterity because Vermeer painted her. The novelist/screenwriters want to pretend that Vermeer only exists, likewise, because of the girl's presence as an inspiration. But the girl made nothing. Vermeer painted everything. It is perverse to pretend otherwise.
Firth gives his usual, constipated performance. It is meant to convey interiority, of the spirit, not of the bowels. One would like more of Judy Parfitt (as Maria Thins, Vermeer's mother-in-law) and really more of Vermeer himself, and a bit less of the girl, who despite the effort to flesh out a character is really more of an appearance than a personality.
It looks good, it sounds good, and it's not too long. But it could have been more impressive in other hands.
Griet (Scarlett Johansson, very young) must go into service when her family falls on hard times. She becomes a maid in the house of Delft painter Vermeer (Colin Firth), given all manner of chores to do. Visits to the market attract the interest of the butcher's boy, Pieter (Cillian Murphy). Visits to the master's studio attract the interest of the artist himself. Little by little Vermeer places greater trust in Griet, asking her to buy raw materials for the paints and even to mix the colours herself. Vermeer suggests that Griet be moved to sleep in the attic, so that she can clean up first thing and her bed below stairs can be given back to head servant Tanneke (Joanna Scanlan). Every decision provokes suspicion and jealousy, in a house full of chickens and only one cockerel.
The young Johansson, attired for the 17th century period, so very pale, looks so very otherworldly. This is a part of the movie's fascination. It is a story of sexual, in a limited way, as well as aesthetic awakening. An awakening of the powers of perception. As Catharina gives birth and then becomes pregnant again, so her husband gives birth to works of art, ready to be passed on to collectors such as Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson). Griet's support to the artist arouses jealousy in the household, and everything draws down to the final insult, Vermeer's decision to make a model of the maid herself. Desplat's music carries a Hogwartsy sense of wonder, making something magical out of something actually quite scientific in its endeavour.
Yet, in the end, this is a movie about, well, not very much. Inspired by a novel, I think, and if so, an attempt to make something bigger out of the contribution of a face in a painting. The girl with the pearl earring only exists to posterity because Vermeer painted her. The novelist/screenwriters want to pretend that Vermeer only exists, likewise, because of the girl's presence as an inspiration. But the girl made nothing. Vermeer painted everything. It is perverse to pretend otherwise.
Firth gives his usual, constipated performance. It is meant to convey interiority, of the spirit, not of the bowels. One would like more of Judy Parfitt (as Maria Thins, Vermeer's mother-in-law) and really more of Vermeer himself, and a bit less of the girl, who despite the effort to flesh out a character is really more of an appearance than a personality.
It looks good, it sounds good, and it's not too long. But it could have been more impressive in other hands.