Girl With A Pearl Earring
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (12)
D: Peter Webber
Pathé/UK Film Council (Andy Paterson & Anand
Tucker)
UK/USA/Luxembourg 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇱🇺 2003
100 mins
Biopic/Drama
W: Olivia Hetreed [based on the novel by Tracy
Chevalier]
DP: Eduardo Serra
Ed: Kate Evans
Mus: Alexandre Desplat
PD: Ben Van Os
Cos: Dien Van Straalen
Colin Firth (Johannes Vermeer), Scarlett Johansson
(Griet), Tom Wilkinson (Van Ruijven), Judy Parfitt (Maria Thins), Cillian Murphy (Pieter), Essie Davis (Catherina), Joanna Scanlan (Tanneke), Alakina Mann (Cornelia)
17th Century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer is portrayed
as a man of mystery in this 2003 biopic, treated as such by his family, he labours privately in his studio as his art struggles to flow.
He soon finds inspiration when a young, beautiful peasant
girl comes into his home to work as a housemaid, whom he immortalises with the painting of the title.
Like most period dramas, the film takes a conservative
approach to the subtle sexual tension between the two main characters, and though the material is more suited to a mini-series or TV movie, it is wonderfully crafted, with each frame of the
film resembling a classic art painting with its polished cinematography and meticulous detail to the period.
6/10
