Rights holder / Distributor: Pathé Pictures / Lions Gate Films
The Girl with the Pearl Earring is a 2003 British-Luxembourgish-American drama film directed by Peter Webber from a screenplay by Olivia Hetread. It premiered in the United States on December 12, 2003.
The story takes us to Delft in the 17th century, where young Griet begins working as a maid in the home of the artist Johannes Vermeer. She gradually attracts his attention with her sensitivity to color and light and finds herself increasingly closer to the world of his art. A special closeness develops between the two, which remains unspoken, but begins to change the relationships in the Vermeer household. The story is based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier, which turns a real painting by Vermeer into a starting point for an artistic fiction.
Peter Webber eschews the traditional approach to historical drama and puts the visual environment first. The interiors, costumes, and lighting are reminiscent of Vermeer's paintings, and Eduardo Serra's camerawork uses light in a way that makes almost every frame seem like a painting in itself. It is this visual precision that is among the film's strongest qualities. The Girl with the Pearl Earring, and Alexandre Desplat's music complements the calm, contemplative atmosphere. The film is more of an intimate portrait of an era and the relationship between two people than a traditional biographical story about an artist.
Scarlett Johansson Grit builds with great restraint, with much of the heroine's emotions remaining in her looks and reactions. Colin Firth presents Vermeer as a closed and work-obsessed man who had difficulty finding a place for his feelings amidst family and financial constraints. Tom Wilkinson adds tension as the wealthy patron Van Rooyven, while Judy Parfitt, Cillian Murphy и Essie Davis Johansson's performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and the film received three Oscar nominations, including for cinematography, production design, and costumes.
The Girl with the Pearl Earring is one of those films that relies more on atmosphere and visual language than on a dynamic plot. The story is quiet and gradually develops the relationship between Griet and Vermeer, leaving many of their feelings unspoken. The greatest merit of the production is the way in which the cinema approaches the art of painting, without simply trying to recreate Vermeer's paintings. For viewers who like historical dramas with beautiful shots, strong acting and a slower pace, The Girl with the Pearl Earring remains one of the more interesting films of the early 2000s.
