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Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
9 January 2004 (USA)
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Tagline:
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..... more
Plot:
A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars.
Another 12 wins
&
34 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(38 articles)
Pre-order The 'New Moon' Score
(From TwilightersAnonymous. 29 September 2009, 6:44 PM, PDT)
New Moon Monday: Here Are The Artists For 'New Moon'!
(From TwilightersAnonymous. 21 September 2009, 8:59 PM, PDT)
(From TwilightersAnonymous. 29 September 2009, 6:44 PM, PDT)
New Moon Monday: Here Are The Artists For 'New Moon'!
(From TwilightersAnonymous. 21 September 2009, 8:59 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
visually stunning, though lacking in dramatic intensity
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Colin Firth | ... | Johannes Vermeer | |
| Scarlett Johansson | ... | Griet | |
| Tom Wilkinson | ... | Pieter Van Ruijven | |
| Judy Parfitt | ... | Maria Thins | |
| Cillian Murphy | ... | Pieter | |
| Essie Davis | ... | Catharina Bolnes Vermeer | |
| Joanna Scanlan | ... | Tanneke | |
| Alakina Mann | ... | Cornelia Vermeer | |
| Chris McHallem | ... | Griet's Father | |
| Gabrielle Reidy | ... | Griet's Mother | |
| Rollo Weeks | ... | Frans | |
| Anna Popplewell | ... | Maertge | |
| Anaïs Nepper | ... | Lisbeth | |
| Melanie Meyfroid | ... | Aleydis | |
| Nathan Nepper | ... | Johannes |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
La jeune fille à la perle (Luxembourg: French title)
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MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for some sexual content.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
100 min
Country:
UK
|
Luxembourg
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:LH |
Malaysia:U |
Hungary:14 |
Czech Republic:12 |
South Korea:15 |
New Zealand:PG |
USA:TV-PG (cable rating) |
Australia:PG |
Brazil:12 |
Finland:K-7 |
Germany:6 |
Hong Kong:IIA |
Italy:T |
Netherlands:AL |
Norway:11 |
Philippines:PG-13 |
Singapore:PG |
Spain:7 |
Sweden:7 |
Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) |
Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) |
UK:12A |
USA:PG-13
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The film was originally slated to star Kate Hudson and Ralph Fiennes and be directed by 'Mike Newell' . Hudson pulled out during preproduction (allegedly because she refused to wear a wimple for the role), which resulted in funding being pulled, and by the time new funding was secured, Newell had to move on to another project. After a director search, Peter Webber was tapped for the job and held auditions for a new female lead. He settled on Kirsten Dunst, who then dropped the project in wake of Spider-Man (2002)'s success. At this point, Fiennes had been waiting so long that he too had to move on to other scheduled projects, and so became unavailable. Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth were then cast.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When Griet first hears the rumors about herself, her cap changes from square flaps (walking to the market) to pointed flaps (talking to the butcher's son at the market) and back to square flaps again (talking to Vermeer and his patron back at home again)
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Making of 'The Phantom of the Opera' (2005) (V)
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FAQ
What are the official chapter headings?more
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Behind every picture there lies a story, and the film `Girl With a Pearl Earring' purports to give us the inside scoop into the making of Vermeer's classic painting of the same name. In the mid 1600's, a young, illiterate peasant girl named Griet came to live and work as a servant in the home of the promising, yet still financially struggling, Dutch master. Obsessed by her beauty, Vermeer insisted on using her as the subject for one of his works, much to the horror and chagrin of his jealous and shrewish wife. Despite the domestic havoc it caused, the collaboration between artist and subject resulted in one of the genuine masterpieces of the art world.
Visually, this film could not be more stunning. Thanks to luminous cinematography, art direction and costume design, the audience watching this film feels almost as if it has been transported into a Vermeer work. Director Peter Webber recreates every element of that world in loving detail, right down to his choice of actress Scarlett Johansson, who is a dead ringer for the model in the original portrait. Alexandre Desplat's score also captures the lyrical, haunting tenderness of the subject matter.
`Girl With a Pearl Earring' is a very fine movie in many respects, but it is ultimately unsatisfying because it cannot match in content what it achieves in style. Despite the exquisite look of the film, the characters seem strangely underdeveloped, most especially Vermeer himself, who remains frustratingly superficial throughout. Thanks mainly to his taciturn moodiness, we never get to know much of what he is thinking or feeling. The romantic moments between artist and subject are admirably restrained and thereby all the more erotic in nature but we do feel as if we would like to know more about him as a person. Griet is only slightly more fully developed, although, in her case, we can at least ascribe this lack of information to the restrictions placed on her by her station in life and the society of her time. Unlike Vermeer, Griet was conditioned by the world around her to be a passive observer. But Vermeer needs to be a more dynamic presence in the story.
One admires the fact that the filmmakers have remained truthful to the spirit of the enterprise, refusing to indulge in cheap melodramatics to make the story more salacious and scandalous than in truth it really was. Yet, in dramatic terms, such integrity comes with a price, for the film often has the effect of lulling rather than stimulating us, of raising our expectations then failing to fully satisfy them. Perhaps, in the case of this particular artwork, the story-behind-the-picture wasn't really all that interesting to begin with.