- Film Review
- Reviewed By Sloan Freer
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4 out of 5
British director Peter Webber makes an astonishing feature debut with this ravishing period drama. Based on a bestselling novel by Tracy Chevalier, it's a fictionalised reconstruction of the story behind 17th-century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer's celebrated painting Girl with a Pearl Earring. Following her outstanding turn in Lost in Translation, Scarlett Johansson cements her golden girl status with a heartbreakingly brilliant portrayal of Vermeer's housemaid and eventual muse. Inadvertently drawn to the secretive artist (a brooding Colin Firth), she finds head and heart colliding to costly effect. Though a work of fiction, the exquisite tale feels authentic thanks to the strong central performances and a naturalistic script that avoids tawdry melodrama. Instead, the film's considerable emotional and erotic power comes from expectation and electric flashes of intimacy, with one look from Johansson enough to convey a thousand words. The cinematography is equally intoxicating, transforming every detailed frame into a richly coloured tableau vivant, while Alexandre Desplat's beautiful score adds extra intensity.
Plot Summary
Period drama, based on the bestselling novel by Tracy Chevalier, starring Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. Holland 1665: after her father is blinded in a kiln explosion, 17-year-old Griet is sent to work as a live-in maid for the Vermeer household. Attracting the attention of her secretive artist master, she finds herself drawn into his mysterious world, and a potentially damaging intimacy ensues.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Johannes Vermeer
- Colin Firth
- Griet
- Scarlett Johansson
- Van Ruijven
- Tom Wilkinson
- Maria Thins
- Judy Parfitt
- Pieter
- Cillian Murphy
- Catharina Vermeer
- Essie Davis
- Tanneke
- Joanna Scanlan
- Cornelia Vermeer
- Alakina Mann
- Griet's father
- Chris McHallem
- Griet's mother
- Gabrielle Reidy
- Maertge
- Anna Popplewell
Crew
- Director
- Peter Webber
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