A review by Jeffrey Overstreet
ยท
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.