‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’
DIRECTOR Peter Webber’s ‘Girl with A Pearl Earring’ (2003) is the movie of choice this Tuesday in the Classic Tuesdays presentations held every week from 6pm at the National Art Gallery,  Castellani House, on Vlissengen Road.

Master Painter Jan Vermeer is arguably the most popular 17th Century Dutch artist, second only to his contemporary, Rembrandt van Rijn. His relatively small body of work comprised of mostly domestic, interior genre scenes of glowing subtle colour and tone and precise composition, and the lack of information about his life, have added to his mystique in the modern era.

The film’s storyline is a fictionalized account of the artist’s painting of one of his most well-known works, which now hangs in the Mauritshuis Museum in the Hague. The eponymous ‘Girl’, Griet (Scarlett Johansson), daughter of a blind artist, must support her family by working as a maid, and comes to the artist’s household to undertake its hard domestic labour.

Despite his apparent fame, however, Vermeer (Colin Firth) lives in debt and from painting to painting; beholden to an unscrupulous but wealthy patron, van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson); a disaffected and highly-strung wife, and a growing brood of children including a spiteful elder daughter.

The artist develops a bond with the maid, and secretly embarks on a portrait of her for van Ruijven, unknown to his suspicious wife, but with the collusion of his mother-in-law (veteran Judy Parfitt), for whom another successful painting means payment of their debts.

The tension builds as the artist realises he must use one of his wife’s precious pearl earrings as the crowning element of his painting, without her discovering that the piece is missing. 

The film is notable for its brilliant recreation of 17th Century Dutch interiors, household and town life filmed alongside houses and canals, and in particular, familiar details from many of Vermeer’s works incidentally shown in the background of his studio.

The film won numerous nominations and awards for Best Cinematography for its photographer Eduardo Serra, Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Costume and Best Music, and Golden Globes, BAFTA and international Film Critics Association nominations for Best Actress for Scarlett Johansson.

The film is 1 hour, 40 minutes long.