i was really hyped to see this movie because i had read tracy chevalier’s book earlier in the year and absolutely loved it. the movie did not disappoint. peter webber does a masterful job directing girl with a pearl earring. every scene appeared to me as if truly out of one of vermeer’s paintings, especially in the shots of the city and of griet in vermeer’s studio. i read somewhere that vermeer experimented with light in his works and its effect on skin, hair, and cloth. i did notice how the light in the film really brought out the different qualities of those textures.

however, there were some particular scenes i felt that webber should not have cut from the film adaptation. certain scenes that were in the book advanced the relationship between vermeer and griet and the meaning behind it; they also showed the growing rage of those around them as a result of their strange closeness. i didn’t think it was so obvious on the part of pieter who is a tad more enraged in the novel. and the film ending also seemed more abrupt than in the novel. but i’m not one to keep on comparing the novel and the movie… (cough)

colin firth finds his niche in this movie as an enigmatic vermeer. as seen in movies like pride and prejudice and bridget jones’s diary, even, firth has a mysterious stare that can’t be defined as either indifferent or passionate. i can see why it would be so frustrating for someone like griet; she can never tell what he truly feels for her, if she is just his subject or his object of desire. scarlett johansson plays a decently convincing griet, though i could have done without her constant gasping. i swear i heard her gasp, sigh, and breathe loudly a grand total of three hundred times throughout the film. this is what i like to call “neve campbell”-acting. (watch scream or any episode of party of five and you’ll see what i mean.)

besides the excessive breathiness of johansson’s character, girl with a pearl earring kept me captivated the entire time. the pace of the movie may seem slow to some people, but i thought it was very well paced. and patience is a virtue.