abstew here with a look back at 2003 with Scarlett Johansson as the Girl With A Pearl Earring and the actual Vermeer painting that inspired the film.
Looking at them side by side, I don't think Scarlett looks all that much like the actual painting. Her lips are way too big and her face is much longer and thinner. (Kate Hudson and Kirsten Dunst who originally had both been cast and dropped out of the project, physically would have resembled the girl in the painting a little more.) But there's no denying that even with bleached eyebrows and same crazy material on her head, she's still a looker. Scarlett plays Griet, a maid hired to work at the house of artist Johannes Vermeer (a sexy Colin Firth). Working alongside the artist, she begins to assist him in his studio. She gradually learns to appreciate the process of painting and inspires him to create his most famous work. In an almost wordless performance, Johansson lets us inside the inner workings and thoughts of a girl who's life was destined for cooking and cleaning but soon sees that art has the power to elevate. When looking at the painting for the first time she replies, "You looked inside me..."
Despite early praise for work in such films as The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World, I think it's pretty safe to say that with the double feature of Lost In Translation and Girl With A Pearl Earring, 2003 was the break-out year of Scarlett Johansson. She earned double nominations for both performances from not only BAFTA, but the Golden Globes as well. (And, boy, did the Globes fall hard. They really liked her and nominated her 2 more times racking up 4 noms in 3 consecutive years. Remember her great work in A Love Song for Bobby Long? Yeah, me either.) Strangely, the Academy was less enthused with ScarJo deciding not to nominate her for either performance that year. And the poor girl has to live with the fact that Jonah Hill now has more Oscar nominations than she does at this point. But 10 years later, 2013 is proving to be another big year for the star. Her sassy turn as a gum-smacking Jersey Girl in Don Jon is already earning her nominations and there's a huge amount of history-making Oscar buzz around her voice-over work in Spike Jonze's Her.
But I still think Girl With A Pearl Earring is one of her finest performances and the film is certainly the most gorgeous that she's been apart of. Based on the hugely successful book by Tracy Chevalier the whole film is a sumptuous feast for the eyes. In fact, the film's three Oscar nominations (Cinematography, Art Direction, and Costume) were all for its aesthetic beauty. Bathed in light and saturated in color, each shot is composed as if a series of living, breathing Vermeer paintings brought to life.
And now, the actual painting (which has been called the Dutch Mona Lisa due to the mysterious nature of its subject) is on display until January 19 at The Frick Collection in New York! Having already seen it years ago in The Hague, I was eager to see her again this past Sunday. A word of advice - buy tickets online in advance! The line to get in wrapped around the block in the cold, drizzling rain and the woman at the front desk said people are waiting hours to catch a glimpse of the painting! It all seems a little crazy as I just walked right in with my pre-purchased ticket and was finished with the whole museum in about an hour. Girl With A Pearl Earring gets a room all to herself, so you can look into her mysterious gaze for as long as you want. It's amazing to think what a reputation the painting has built over the years as it was purchased at an auction for only two guilders and 30 cents in 1881! Very little is known about Vermeer's life other than dates and the work (and even some of that is in question). And nothing is known about the real-life girl in the painting. It's speculated that she could be Vermeer's eldest daughter, but no one knows for sure. I think most people accept the story of the movie as fact at this point.
While you're there make sure to check out the Frick's other three Vermeers (including Girl Interrupted At Her Music - which inspired the title of the book and film Girl Interrupted). And if you're especially feeling some Vermeer and want to see some more, go across the street to The Met where they have 5 of the Master's paintings (including the other painting Griet inspires in the film, Young Woman With A Water Pitcher). There are only 34 known works of Vermeer and right now you can see about a third of them here in New York.
And Vermeer happens to be the subject (well, kinda) of a documentary from magicians Penn and Teller that is vying for a nomination for this year's Best Documentary Award at the Oscars, Tim's Vermeer. The film follows Tim Jenison, an inventor that pioneered video software for computers, as he recreates actual Vermeer paintings by building himself a camera obscura. The device (which makes an appearance in Girl With A Pearl Earring as Vermeer has Griet look at the composition through its lens) is a box made up of mirrors that allowed the details of the image it was projecting to be highly detailed. The film played at this year's New York Film Festival and at the moment is enjoying a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes!
Even after more than 325 years after his death, Vermeer is still inspiring great works of art.