December 02, 2008.

Kind of boring, but scenery was realistic and beautiful.

Rating: 3
The Girl with the Pearl Earring

This movie was interesting, but certainly not exciting. I was very disappointed with the ending. Griet is a seventeen year-old Dutch girl sent to be a maid in the Vermeer house to support her poor family. There, she is subjected to constant criticism and belittling by the mistress of the house (Vermeer's wife) and her oldest daughter (a real piece of work who connives throughout the whole movie). Vermeer's mother-in-law also lives in the household and you soon discover that she actually runs it and is not as mean as she appears. In probably the best line of the movie, she states the theme, "You are caught in his web. We all are." The entire family depends on money that the patriarch Johannes brings in from his paintings and they have quite a large brood of children as the wife is pregnant within a month after delivering the last (seriously, try abstinence).

So, when the local hotshot commissions Vermeer to paint a portrait of the attractive Griet, trouble begins. First of all, Vermeer insists that Griet pose for him in addition to her other duties, so she's constantly exhausted. Then he insists that she wear his wife's pearl earrings and Griet doesn't even have pierced ears. The mother-in-law sits Griet down and explains that all of the families' fates rely on her posing so that Vermeer can finish that portrait and get the commission. So she sucks up her pride, lets Vermeer pierce her ear and do the darned portrait. Of course, by then wifey finds out and is fit to be tied. Sparks fly and Griet is thrown out of the house. Back at home, a package is delivered to her that contains the scarf and pearl earrings she wore while posing which are worth a considerable amount of money. And that's it.

Throughout the story, you see love blossom between Griet and the butcher's son. In one scene, it appears as though they've consummated their relationship which is very unusual and out of character for the quiet and extremely reserved Griet. Then he just seems to blend into the woodwork and disappear. I found that part of this story rather disappointing. A lot of loose ends left. There is also a scene where the town hotshot (who commissioned the painting) tries to rape Griet and the bratty oldest Vermeer daughter just watches from her vantage point at the window. The manipulations of the Vermeer woman are disgusting to watch, but I guess that was commonplace in 17th century Holland.

The filming was done amidst the canals in Holland (I presume) and was beautiful. The homes were practically claustrophobic (think townhomes built of stone and piled on top of each other). If you watch this film for no other reason to enjoy the scenery, then do it. It's also interesting to see how painters painted back then, acquiring powdered colors from vendors and mixing the paints themselves, painting in layers, etc. Interesting to watch once, but I definitely wouldn't buy it unless you're a huge fan of Vermeer.

December 23, 2008.

REALLY SLOW! REALLY BORING!.

Rating: 1
obviously all the people that gave this movie 4-5 stars were asked to write positive reviews or read the book. this movie had so many wholes in it that i couldnt wait for it to end. the script was probably only two pages of diologue. you could literally watch this movie while cleaning the kitchen and doing the dishes with the sound off and still know what was going on. I love period movies and the set, clothing, scenery ect. fit the bill. Its to bad there was'nt some substance along with it.

December 25, 2008.

If Vermeer Was Brit.

Rating: 4
This beautifully made film is worth seeing for the heavily meditated transmission of 17th century Dutch art to the screen, a stunning achievement. Delft is wonderfully recreated based on the works of Vermeer and many other painters. The basic story line about a Calvinist girl warily going into a Bohemian artist household is fine, and Scarlett Johanson is very good, as is her butcher's apprentice boyfriend.

The only problem is that this isn't Vermeer -- they should have simply used another name as in ordinary Roman a' clef novels such as The Sun Also Rises. While we do not have a dense background on Vermeer, we do know enough to say he wasn't a broody British Heathcliff. Painting wasn't his only gig nor even perhaps his main one -- he traded rugs & paintings & took over his dad's tavern. He knew all the artists in town and painted himself as a happy camper at least 3 times we know of. There is no reason to imagine his marriage and household wasn't happy, either -- it's an island of calm in 25 pics painted over 25 years. I guess you can't slander the dead, but as they used to say in the old days, there oughta be a law.

Colin Firth is otherwise fine as Heathcliff in this spin off of Wuthering Heights moved to Delft, and the rest of the cast as Heathcliff's batty family. Remove the historicist pretension and the film works beautifully. Unfortunately, the cartooning of major artists is getting epedemic with films like Shakespeare in Love and Amadeus. For kids raised on the History Channel, Hollywood as history, this is bad candy which shouldn't be accepted from stangers. They are getting the past recreated with great visual acumen, but 0 inner light.

December 02, 2008.

If You Like Seeing People Standing Around Wide Eyed and Gaped Jawed, This Movie is for You..

Rating: 1
Everyone else do yourself a favor and avoid it. I'm just happy that I saw it on IFC and didn't rent or (heaven forbid) buy the stupid thing. I was hoping for a movie that would be both visually and intellectually stimulating (like The Agony and the Ecstasy) but instead only got one that was pleasing to the eye. I kept hoping that the story would show up but it never did, unless of course the script read "Scarlet Johansson stands wide eyed and fearful for the next hour and a half." The romance (if that was what it was) between Griet and the butcher's son was neither developed (did she love him or was she repulsed by him) or necessary. Nor can I see any reason for the groping scene, the bratty daughter "sub-plot" (you must have a plot before you can have a sub-plot), or pretty much anything else in the movie. I won't go as far as some to complain about the American accents, since the only way to have real authenticity in that department would be to have everyone speaking Dutch, but the "creepy guy/stalker boss/all men are evil" theme has been done to death and this movie provided us with two examples of it!

I've not read the novel and, as another reviewer stated, now I don't want to but I do hope the rule that the book is better than the movie is the case.

My final thought, nice to look at but otherwise boring and pretentious.

December 26, 2008.

Good, but no depth as book had.

Rating: 2
This movie was okay, but it did not portray the book as I would have imagined. They left out important scenes from the book. Scarlett Johannson did not embody the main character well. She did not show any of the bravery or integrity as in the novel.