Girl with a Pearl Earring

Synopsis

Johannes Vermeer is the greatest painter of his time. When he hires a young girl Griet to help in his house, it is not long before she becomes more than a servant - she starts to help him in his studio, learning the art of painting by watching the master. And then, secretly, Vermeer begins to paint her and Griet becomes model and muse for his greatest masterpiece Girl With A Pearl Earring.

Our Review:

30 September 2008

What is the point of this show? It’s not terrible, but it’s hardly exciting. Actor/playwright David Joss Buckley has avowedly gone back to the wonderful, spry 1999 novel of Tracy Chevalier – transformed into a beautiful film starring Scarlett Johannson and Colin Firth – and drummed it drably into a stilted love story.

This is a diminution of a prose work of art which is vocalised in the narrative of a young serving girl in the 1666 household of Jan Vermeer in Delft. She is assigned as a slave, becomes enamoured of painting technique and the artist’s mystery, and is removed as a threat to domestic stability. The momentum lies in the slow thrum of her artistic and sensual arousal.

There’s absolutely no sense of that in Joe Dowling’s plodding production, which stakes out the narrative in a literal art gallery of Vermeer references, translucent lighting and cheap gags. At least the 2003 film, remarkable for the beauty of the cinematography and the pouting, over-ripe and sullen ...

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Latest User Review

martin b - 9 October 2008:

I must disagree with a lot of the reviews here. I really enjoyed this. It was captivating and engaging and gradually reels you in. I was really quite moved and loved the costumes and sets....

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