Girl With A Pearl Earring (DVD)

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque artist who was born in Delft and had a great love of the colours blue and yellow. One of his famous paintings is The Girl with the Pearl Earring or otherwise known as the Dutch Mona Lisa or Mona Lisa of the North. A book written by Tracy Chevalier explores the life of the woman who is believed to be the subject of this famous portrait. After sourcing material regarding Vermeer's life Chevalier invented a plot filled with subdued passion, artistic observation and class prejudice. In 2003, director, Peter Webber made a beautiful film based on this stimulating and exciting novel with the help of two gifted actors, Colin Firth ...  Read the complete review

"He had a vision no one saw as clearly as she. In a house where everything had its place, where every image had meaning, he gave her the power to see the light. She gave him a look that would last forever....." I studied Johannes Vermeer in Art History at college and was fascinated by the story (or should that be stories) of the subject of his painting 'Girl with a pearl earring'. The mystery being despite her wearing what could only be the clothing of a servant she has a huge pearl earring in one ear.... Most artists of the time paid prostitutes by the hour to pose for them, Vermeer apparently painted a maid he was in love with. ...  Read the complete review

Introduction I’ve been meaning to watch this film for a while, without realising that it starred Scarlett Johansson; as soon as I realised, I was all the more determined to see it. Once again, she didn’t let me down. I have to admit to being totally ignorant about Vermeer, but no background knowledge is necessary to understand the film. It is well worth watching and I am now looking forward to reading the book by Tracy Chevalier on which the film was based. The director Peter Webber The story Griet, a young girl from a poor family, becomes a servant girl at the house of artist Johannes Vermeer in Delft, Holland. Requested by Mrs ...  Read the complete review

This is a film which I have wanted to see for some time and finally managed to get hold of the DVD from Amazon and watch it last night. I do also have the book but as I have not read it yet I cannot make any comparison as to how well it has been adapted for the film. The film is set in Holland in the last 18th Century and shows us a young lady called Griet who is asked by her family to take a job working as a maid for the Vermerr household. Johannes Vermeer is a painter and soon Griet is given the job of looking after his studio and making sure it is clean without moving any of the items in there. Griet's father is also an old artist so she has an insight ...  Read the complete review

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) Genre: Biography/Drama Certificate: 12 (UK), PG 13 (USA) Running time: 100 minutes Director: Peter Webber Main Cast: Colin Firth – Johannes Vermeer Scarlett Johansson – Griet Tom Wilkinson – Van Ruijven Judy Parfitt – Maria Thins Essie Davis – Catharina Vermeer Cillian Murphy – Pieter It is said that every picture tells a story, and this is essentially what “Girl with a Pearl Earring” sets out to do; to tell the story behind Johannes Vermeer’s 1665 masterpiece of the same name. Based on the highly successful novel by Tracy Chevalier, this is a vision of ...  Read the complete review