“A ‘Pearl’ of Great Price”
by Scott Mantz

“Girl With a Pearl Earring”
Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson
Directed by Peter Webber

Now, this will only hurt a bit! Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth create a masterpiece in "Girl With a Pearl Earring"

Inspiration can come in a variety of forms – a song you heard, a movie you saw, a poem you read or a person you met. In director Peter Webber’s first feature “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” inspiration comes in the unlikely form of a meek housemaid in Holland, circa 1665. Adapted from the best-selling 1999 novel by Tracy Chevalier, the film starts out slow, but like the painting it is based on, it eventually takes shape to become an intense and thoroughly engrossing work of art.

In order to support her family, seventeen-year-old Griet (Scarlett Johansson) is forced to take a job as a maid for the acclaimed artist, Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth). They are worlds apart in just about every way (especially their age), but Vermeer soon finds himself attracted to Griet’s natural beauty and slowly begins to draw her into his craft. Since Griet obviously inspires Vermeer, his superficial mother-in-law (Judy Parfitt) allows their relationship to develop even further, much to the chagrin of Vermeer’s jealous, controlling wife (Essie Davis). How long can Griet survive before she gets in over her head with this chaotic family, and more importantly, how long will it take for Vermeer to finish what will eventually become known as one of the greatest paintings of all time?

Other than the painstakingly slow pace at which Vermeer created his 35 paintings, not much is known about him. That gives the book – and ultimately, the film – free reign to take a fictional idea and run with it to make it more than just an art history lesson. While the movie’s setting and subject matter may announce its intentions early on as a high-brow period piece, a curious love triangle soon develops with elements of dramatic tension found in most contemporary thrillers – including jealously, pettiness, spiritual connection and understanding.

Since the passion between Vermeer and Griet is more visual than talked about, the acting is incredibly strong and doesn’t overstate the obvious. To that extent, you couldn’t have asked for a better Griet than Scarlett Johansson. Naturally beautiful and wise far beyond her years, Johansson adds yet another strong, seductive – yet somehow innocent – performance to her resume. She also has incredible chemistry with Colin Firth, who plays Vermeer with so much conflicted, self-absorbed torture, it’s hard to tell if he really cares for Griet or if he simply sees her as a muse for his own professional gratification.

Comparisons are bound to be made between “Girl With a Pearl Earring” and “Lost in Translation,” and for good reason. Both films feature young women (both, ironically, played by Scarlett Johansson) who fall for older, past-their-prime artists (Bill Murray in “Translation” and, of course, Colin Firth in “Earring”). In addition, both films rely on mood, atmosphere and connection, and more importantly, both films avoid the predictable trappings that are common in most cinematic May-December romances.

“Girl With a Pearl Earring” may take creative liberties when it comes to the genesis of the famous painting, but it’s certainly an engaging film that makes the unassuming girl at the center of its story a “pearl of great price.” That’s a reference to the biblical story of the merchant, “who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Whether the events depicted in the film are true or not (and let’s face it, they’re obviously not), it hardly matters. The passion that inspires Vermeer is a small price to pay for what ends up being a priceless cinematic experience.

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