| Girl with a Pearl Earring | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Webber |
| Produced by | Andy Paterson Anand Tucker |
| Screenplay by | Olivia Hetreed |
| Based on | Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier |
| Starring | Colin Firth Scarlett Johansson Tom Wilkinson Cillian Murphy Judy Parfitt |
| Music by | Alexandre Desplat |
| Cinematography | Eduardo Serra |
| Editing by | Kate Evans |
| Studio | UK Film Council Archer Street Productions |
| Distributed by | Pathé (UK) Lions Gate Films (US) |
| Release date(s) | 31 August 2003 (Telluride) 9 January 2004 (US) 16 January 2004 (UK) |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom Luxembourg |
| Language | English |
| Budget | €12 million[1] (£10 million)[2] |
| Box office | $31,466,789 (Worldwide) |
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 2003 drama film directed by Peter Webber. The screenplay was adapted by screenwriter Olivia Hetreed based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, and Cillian Murphy. The film is named after a painting of the same name by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The film uses a bright color scheme as in Vermeer's paintings.
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Griet (Scarlett Johansson) is a shy girl living in the Dutch Republic in 1665. Her father, a Delftware painter, has recently gone blind, rendering him unable to work and putting his family in dire straits. Consequently, Griet is sent to work as a maid in the unhappy household of the painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth).
Griet works hard, almost wordlessly, in the lowest position in a harsh hierarchy, where even one of the Vermeer's children treat her spitefully. On a routine shopping trip outside the house, a butcher's son, Pieter (Cillian Murphy), is quickly taken with Griet, though she is slow to return his affections.
As Griet cleans Vermeer's studio, which his wife never enters, they become casually acquainted and he encourages her appreciation of painting, light and color. Vermeer gives her lessons in mixing paints and other tasks, taking care to keep this secret from his thin-lipped wife Catharina (Essie Davis), who would react very negatively if she found out that her husband was spending time with Griet. In contrast, Vermeer's pragmatic mother-in-law, Maria Thins (Judy Parfitt), sees Griet as useful to Vermeer's career. Vermeer's rich patron Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson) notices Griet on a visit to the Vermeer household and asks the painter if he will give her up to him to work in his own house, a situation which ruined a previous girl. Vermeer refuses, but accepts a commission to paint a portrait of Griet for Van Ruijven.
As Vermeer secretly works on the eponymous painting, Catharina's growing jealousy of Griet becomes apparent. While Griet suffers through her fascination with Vermeer and his paintings, she also has to fend off Van Ruijven's attempt to rape her (which is thwarted when Catharina calls for Griet). Soon afterwards, Catharina's mother summons Griet, hands over her daughter's pearl earrings and instructs Griet to finish the painting while Catharina is away for the day. At the final painting session Vermeer pierces Griet's earlobe so she can wear one of the pearl earrings for the portrait. Afterwards Griet runs to Pieter to be consoled, then returns the earrings to Catharina's mother.
Catharina discovers that Griet used her earrings, accusing her mother of complicity and orders Vermeer to show her the painting he and Griet have been working on. Heartbroken that Vermeer does not consider her worthy of being painted because she "doesn't understand," Catharina tries but fails to destroy the painting, then banishes Griet from the house forever. Vermeer does not object, and Griet leaves the house in shock.
Later, she is visited by the cook from the house, who comes bearing a gift: a sealed packet containing the blue headscarf she wore in the painting, which is wrapped around Catharina's pearl earrings.
The soundtrack was released in 2004 and composed by Alexandre Desplat.