Sarah-72 Reviews

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

Decent, but could have been better

[7/10 · 31 January 2004]

A few SPOILERS included:

I'm surprised to read all the reviews praising the lighting in this film. While the light in the indoor scenes was beautiful, many of the "outdoor" scenes were quite obviously filmed on some kind of sound stage. In one part at the beginning, (as Grete goes to her new household), it was obvious that a church steeple and clouds in the background were painted, not real.

As far as plot, I read the book more than 2 years ago, and I can't figure out why they left a few things out. For one, in the movie's beginning we see Grete chopping vegetables and arranging them on a plate. If I remember correctly, in the book version, this is when Vermeer and his wife come to Grete's home to hire her. Immediately, Vermeer is impressed by her Grete's aesthetic sense because of her beautiful arrangement. This sets the stage for his recognition of her genius.

The book ends with Grete debating over what to do with the pearl earrings...keep them, sell them (which will be a great financial help to Pieter and her), or get ride of them. And in the book, we see her decision. In the movie version, I could barely figure out who, exactly, had given the earrings to her. (Did the other maid steal them? Did the wife want to get rid of them because they were soiled?) Our only clue is that there was lapis paint sealing them, so they must have been given to her by Vermeer.

I also agree about longing for more dialogue!

I don't mean to bash the film entirely, though. Overall I liked it, but it could have been even better. 7/10

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (2002)

Fantastique...with a twist!

[9/10 · 29 January 2003]

I saw this film at a sneak preview on the UCLA campus last night. It was great...tres bien! The crowd was mostly college-age to 30s, with an equal mix of men and women. I think I can say confidently that the entire audience seemed to love the movie. I was expecting a "chick-flick", but it is much more than that. There is a "Sixth-Sense"-ish twist that gives the movie an entirely different flavor. I personally wasn't familiar with any of the actors, and I found it quite refreshing to see new faces on the big screen. Don't be scared off by the subtitles (as I almost was); I highly recommend this movie! 9/10.

Gosford Park (2001)

I had to use subtitles too!

[7/10 · 27 October 2002]

Minor SPOILER in the middle: I am generally a fan of Robert Altman, but this is definitely not one of my favorites. I agree with others who have mentioned poor sound quality. It was hard to hear the voices when the background sounds were so loud! (and I am not hearing impaired). Like several others who have posted here, I ended up turning on the subtitles. I have had to use subtitles before with a few British films (Those with what I suppose to be 'lower class accents,' namely in "Little Voice" and "The Full Monty." However, I have never previously used subtitles with Merchant Ivory films or others depicting the upper class.) Strange. Anyway, I also agree that there were too many characters to keep straight. Even at the end, I was trying to connect the names with the faces and sort out their relationships. (Having the subtitles on probably made this worse as I was paying more attention to the words rather than what was shown on-screen.) I disagree with those who have said that the mystery is not solved at the end...the 2 parties are accused and both are guilty! I think I would have gotten even more out of this film if I would have viewed it again, but I don't have the patience to do that. Afterwards, we watched the "Deleted Scenes" with Altman's commentary on why they were deleted. Time after time, Altman said that various scenes were deleted because they were not necessary to the plot, or that the point had been explained elsewhere. I disagree. With as many characters as there were, I think that reinforcing a few points would have made the film easier to follow. Overall 7/10. I am thinking about down-grading to a 6/10.