Drama, 2003, UK/Luxembourg
Director: Peter Webber
Score: **

Peter Webber’s feature debut Girl with a Pearl Earring places more importance on the subject (Scarlett Johansson) of the painting than its 17th century Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth).  And with reason too for the girl - young Griet, who is forced by poverty to work in the Vermeer household, has more life encounters in her period of employment than most others in their entire lifetime.  Proving that beauty can be more of a liability than an asset, she runs afoul of the jealous and strict-fisted wife, Maria (Judy Parfitt) and the ugly daughter.  Worse of all, she has to reject the advances of both Vermeer and his patron, Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson).  The only ray of hope in her distressed life is her passion for the butcher’s son, Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later).

The film is rich in period atmosphere with lush shadowed photography by Eduardo Serra and great attention to detail in costumes, lighting and sets.  However, the problem is Olivia Hereed’s script adapted from the Tracy Chevalier novel, which treats Griet as so faultless that Johansson basically struts around like a soulless figure. Her character is like a princess stuck in a really grim fairy tale waiting for a prince charming that never arrives.  The only interesting character is the matriarch of the family, Catharina (Essie Davis), who has to wheel and deal to keep the family finances in order.  Whatever anticipation created at the film’s start (e.g. a warning given: “Close your eyes to catholic prayers") is never fully realized.

A point put forth in Webber’s film is that a person having to answer to no one is one who has freedom and a more satisfying lifestyle.  On the contrary, perhaps if more control be been put on Webber’s flawed but great-looking work, a more satisfying film would have been offered.

GILBERT SEAH was born in Singapore and moved to Toronto in 1982. He is an engineer by profession, with a passion for the cinema. Since the age of 10, he has been to the movies almost daily. Having been brought up in the Asian, British and Canadian cultures, he is able to bring a distinct perspective to film.