Around 1665, Johannes Vermeer painted 'Girl With A Pearl Earring,' a beautifully haunting portrait of a young woman. In 2003, Peter Webber directed a film by the same name that attempts to achieve a similar effect. One of them has survived over 300 years to become a masterpiece. The other stars Scarlett Johansson.
'Girl With a Pearl Earring' - the movie - tells the story behind Vermeer's painting. In truth, nothing is known about the subjects of any of Vermeer's portraits, but in the film we find an imagined tale of unconsumated longing (or possibly only musing) and a battle of class. The film is based on a bestselling historical fiction novel by Tracy Chevalier, but where that novel delved deep into the fictional story of Griet, a maid who poses for the portrait and tells the story herself, the film keeps Griet at a distance. In fact, Johansson delivers so few lines in the film that it's nearly comedic. We hardly know her well enough by the end of the movie to care much about what's happened to her, and we know her better than anyone here.
Visually, the film is at times stunning. It's obvious that great care was taken to attempt to match the luminosity of Vermeer's paintings. Most of the time, it's a rousing success. Some shots, however, do make it look as though the film stock was accidentally dropped in bleach.
While there's nothing very intriguing beyond the premise here, there's also nothing to offend. You could do worse than renting the film, but it's a much better idea to hop on the bus and get yourself to a museum.
MAYBE SO (5/10)
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