Girl with a Pearl Earring is a quiet movie about things not said, opportunities not taken, potentials not realized, lips unkissed. All of these elements are guessed at by the filmmakers as they regard a painting made in about 1665 by Johannes Vermeer. The painting shows a young woman looking at us over her left shoulder. She wears a simple blue headband, a modest smock and a pearl earring. Her red lips are slightly parted. Is she smiling?
Not much is known about Vermeer, who left about 35 paintings. Nothing is known about his model. You can hear that it was his daughter, a neighbor, a tradeswoman, but not his lover, because Vermeer’s household was under the iron rule of his mother-in-law, who was vigilant as a hawk. The painting has become as intriguing in its modest way as the Mona Lisa. The girl’s face turned toward us from centuries ago demands that we ask, “Who was she? What was she thinking? What was the artist thinking about her?”
Tracy Chevalier’s novel speculating about the painting has now been filmed by Peter Webber, who cast Scarlett Johansson as the girl and Colin Firth as Vermeer. The girl’s name is Griet, according to this story. She lives nearby and is sent by her blind father to work in Vermeer’s house.
Roger Ebert. Review of girl with a pearl earring. Internet: <www.rogerebert.suntimes.com> (adapted).
