Girl with a Pearl Earring (DVD, 2004)

The best thing about this movie is the cinematography and the insight it gives to an artist and his painting in 1660s Holland. We see Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) mixing the paint, figuring out his subject, and even painting the pictures. The story revolves around Grietl (Scarlett Johansson), a young Calvinist whose family needs her to work as a maid in the Catholic Vermeer household; religion must be the reason that Grietl wears what looks like a nun's cap throughout the movie. The house is run by Vermeer's wife and her mother--both of whom are immediately jealous of the new maid. Why? Who knows?

Johannes immediately takes a liking to the maid, but nothing ever happens to create suspicion. He is all business and uses Grietl to help clean the studio and mix some of the colors. Eventually, he is forced to use Grietl as the subject of one of his paintings because his patron wants a portrait of her.
A gruesome part of the movie occurs when he cannot visualize Griel wearing pearl earrings (duh!), and so she has to pierce her ear so that he can see how it looks. The actual piercing is shown in the movie, and we all gasp when it looks like actual blood coming from Grietl's ear.

"The Girl With a Pearl Earring" is an actual portrait by Vermeer, and the director of the movie says that it has been compared to the Mona Lisa--it is called the Mona Lisa of the North. The movie is stunningly beautiful, moves slowly, and ends too soon.

Some of the unresolved conflicts are: (1) Grietl has a cute boyfriend who works for the family's butcher. He has proposed to Grietl, so did she marry him? (2) Grietl's father is very ill which causes her to have to leave her own family. What happened to them? (3) What happened to the picture after Grietl was dismissed. Did the patron buy it? Where is it now?

This movie could be better but it is pretty good as it is.

Great to see Colin Firth in most any movie, and he did not disappoint, as Vermeer.
I like the fact that his character did not physically commit adultery, with the maid, Griet, who was young enough to be one of his many children.
Of course, this was a fictional account, & I would hope that the real Vermeer was all business...but you never can tell, with artists, can you?
If, indeed, Vermeer hungered for the love of a woman who understood his work, & who was very interested in mixing paints, & in studying the play of light on a subject, etc., it's too bad that he found himself marrying for financial security, rather that finding his soulmate.
And...it's too bad that Griet didn't have the opportunity to go to Art School.
Roberta

I rented this movie originally and wanted to be able to watch it again and again. The scenery and sets are magnificent, and the light is very good. I very much enjoyed the portrayal of this time period, profiling the painting of Vermeer during the fifteenth century. The acting is very good also, and the story is well written, touching on wealth, poverty and people's power of governing each other because of their financial position in society. It also clearly shows that social standing is not a clear indicator of intelligence. It's also a love story reaching across two different worlds and no matter how much we want it to work out, we can't have everything.

Loved the book, and audiobook. Loved the movie that is why I bought the DVD. I thought that Scarlett Johannsen was grat in this role and the intersesting thing to me was they crushed gemstones to create the paint.

This is one of the few movies that didn't put me to sleep. 99% of the junk they call movies work better than sominex. The plot is coy and the picture of life as it could have been is brutally up front.

I really liek the price, it is cheaper on eBay! And the packaging is sureb! I'd buy some more from you! :).

johannes vermeer a dutch master paintings are almost spriutal to see. this film captures that almost other worldly experence.production is beautiful, chose of actors realistic. please see this film. you will come away awe inspired in great art.

It got here in a timely fashion, and was in good shape. I bought it because its a good movie. It was as he said it was. Nice job.

As true an adaptation as possible from the novel. Great director, and the cast who could want more!

I bought it for my brother for christmas. I watched it before wrapping it to make sure there were no problem. I really liked the movie!!

This film does a good job of capturing the mood and atmosphere of the Northern Renaissance. Solid performances throughout.

Visually beautiful, does a great job recreating Vermeer's paintings and era. Its a little slow and long like most modern film. Could use about half an hour cut out of it.

If you Love Colin Firth or Scarlett Johannson this movie is a must see!! I loved Colin in this film. It has become one of my Favorite Colin Firth Films.

I had read the book with the same name, and was familiar with Delft and the original painting, so was interested in having the movie.Also, I wanted to know more about the life of Vermeer. The movie follows the book quite closely, and gives an excellent portrait of life in Holland in that period. However, if I had not read the book first, I would have had difficulty following the movie. The scenes were dark and sometimes disjointed.

I had listened to the book on tape and loved it. I am an artist and thought the book would be intriguing. Afterwards, I wanted to see it characterized via the movie, so bought it, viewed it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some parts were left out of the movie, however, which was disappointing, and left too much to the imagination if I hadn't already "read" the book. It's a very subtle story, but extremely artistic. Wonderful!