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Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003)
Director:
Peter Webber
Starring:
Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth
Studio:
Lions Gate Films
For showtimes, head to Fandango.
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In John Hughes' 1985 suburban geek-angst genre champ "Weird Science," Anthony
Michael Hall (Garry) and Ilan Mitchell Smith (Wyatt) plug the ideal features
of a woman into a super-computing Memotech MX512 while sporting massive granny
bras on top of their heads. In go the legs of Tina Turner, the brains of Albert
Einstein, "bazooms" from the world of virtual reality, the face of Kelly LeBrock
and "presto-change-o," out comes "Lisa," 80's poster girl for nocturnal emissions.
No offense to the infrequently spotted Miss LeBrock, but had the gents from "Weird Science" been around in the 00's, their idealized woman parts would have doubtlessly included the oft-discussed lips of Scarlett Johansson. In a recent "Black Book" interview, writer Madison Slade said that every time she sees Johansson, she thinks of Echo and The Bunnymen's "Lips Like Sugar." Esquire called her "Hot Lips Johansson." Critics have called them "bee-stung," "buttery," "pouty," and "pillowy." All of which would lead you to believe that she's little more than a sex symbol, which is far from the truth.
Since having one hell of a break-out performance in Terry Zwigoff's "Ghost World," followed by rampant scene-stealing in the Coen brothers "The Man Who Wasn't There," Johansson has been garnering massive critical acclaim for acting talent marked by youthful confidence and a quiet, culture-soaked aloofness. A recent Oscar-worthy performance in this year's Sophia Copolla-directed über-cool "Lost in Translation," will do nothing to change that.
In "Girl With a Pearl Earring," Johansson shows considerable range, taking on the role of painter Johannes Vermeer's maid Griet with an appropriately complex mixture of wordless, subservient fear and subdued intellectual exuberance. Directed by first-time filmmaker Peter Webber and based on a novel by Tracy Chevalier, the film's relatively predictable storyline concerns the Vermeer painting from which the film's title was derived - a portrait of his fresh-faced, doe-eyed maid sporting a pair of his wife's garishly large pearl earrings.
If you're looking for twists, there's not much of note. There are the inevitable shots of the woeful working woman (Johansson) toiling at her various and sundry wash duties, the foreseeable sexual tension between Vermeer (Colin Firth) and Johansson's Griet, and the expected jealousy of the older, less attractive wife. Toss in a good-hearted love interest ("28 Days Later" lead Cillian Murphy) and there's little question what will go down.
What redeems the film, however, is the trained eye of DP Eduardo Serra, who shoots with intense focus on light in a painstaking attempt to make the film closely approximate Vermeer's artistic aesthetic. Serra has gone this route before in "What Dreams May Come," where his explorations in cinematography provided an awe-inspiring color pallet for an otherwise dreadful film.
Serra's painterly pursuits prove particularly needed in this film, where the interplay of light and color proves far more vibrant than the film's measly dialogue. In one scene, Firth's fingers smear across Johansson's lips, a close-up so slow, vivid and somehow dirty that it reminded me a little bit of the type of video where scantily clad women wearing skyscraper heels step on the willing, smiling faces of grown men. Who needs words when you've got lip fetish?
"Girl With a Pearl Earring" is ultimately an enjoyable film, well worth a viewing if only for the remarkable visuals and to witness the burgeoning career of Johansson. Thus far, she's shown either remarkable taste or incredible good luck in being involved in worthwhile projects. Let's hope she continues to shine, world-class smackers and all.
...
Written by Richard Sharp
Review Date: December 16, 2003
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