Girl With A Pearl Earring (Film)

Title: Girl with a Pearl Earring (Film)
Author: Tracy Chevalier
Director: Pieter Webber

Characters Minimized/ Cut
Many characters are cut in the film such as Agnes, Frank, and Mrs. Van Ruijven. The siblings are important since it tell the audience a bit about Griet’s life. Mrs. Van Ruijven is significant because her circumstances with her husband’s affairs. Hinting at that Mr. Van Ruijven had bad intentions toward Griet. Other characters that were minimized were Vermeers’ children. The children should represent support and trouble for Griet. Maerte is shown but did not talk and Cornelia still remained as Catherina’s “telling” girl. Short scenes with the butcher’s son, Pieter, and the relationship are not as intense in the film compare to the book. There is a bit disappointing about the cuts in the characters.

Characters Emphasized
The film emphasized more in Griet’s job in the Vermeer’s house. In the house, the relationship between Griet and the Vermeers was “cold.” The impression for the audience about Griet would be just a maid, almost a flat character. However, in the book, Griet is described more as a rounded character. Her family and friends had parts in the book. The interaction between Vermeer and Griet was portrayed the same as the book. Mainly, Griet’s relationship with the Vermeers was emphasized.

Narration
In the book, the narration is in first person point of view (1st POV). The film could not be like that but, it would be strange to hear the narrator throughout the film. Therefore, the narrator is limited. The audience could not tell what Griet thought of her master but we (audience) could tell by the look of her in various scenes toward Vermeer. The audience has to assume to understand the characters’ thoughts. Remember, in the book, the reader gets vivid descriptions to understand the situation. The film makes the images in order for the people to understand the story.


Motifs
The main motif in the film is the huge eight shaped star shown at the start and end of the film. The star is located on the floor. That star symbolized the choices Griet’s made during the film. First, Griet stepped on the star to head toward the Vermeer’s house. Then, she ran away from the Vermeer’s house to somewhere else. In the film do not shows where she went but the days of being a maid were over. She decided to run away from her masters. The star represented Griet’s choices. Another motif is the appearance of Cornelia. Every time the little girl appears, the audience could tell she foreshadow trouble for the protagonist. She was Catherina’s snitch.

Music/ Sound Effects
The music for the film’s background is high quality. It was excellent. The background music fits perfectly in every scene. For example, as Griet cleans Vermeer’s studio, the music is soft and soothing. It is relaxing because the characters enjoy cleaning the studio. Another scene is when Griet returns the pearl’s earring to Maria Thins. The background music is a bit dramatic and “dark.” Similar to the idea of a“foreshadowing misfortune” music. The music helped convey the situation’s atmosphere in the film.

Film Terms in the Film
One of the most interesting shots in the film is when Catherina knows about the painting and Maria Thins is behind her. It is classified as a point of view shot, reaction shot, and medium shot. The point of view is from Vermeer. The director’s shows the audience how Vermeer sees his wife after she saw the painting. She seems to be betrayed about the secret paint. The shot is a reaction shot because it shows both Maria Thins’ and Catherina’s expression after seeing the painting. Catherina looks depressed and miserable. Maria Thin looks worried and regretful. Lastly, the shot only shows the waist upward of both actresses. Notice that Maria Thins looks smaller than Catherina in the shot. It symbolize how helpless the mother was to stop her daughter’s anguish.

Girl With A Pearl Earring (Page 182-233)

Title: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Author: Tracy Chevalier
Page 182- 233

Summary
Many months had passes, Griet and Vermeer were working together in order to finish two paintings at the same time. As the concert painting was completed, Griet’s portrait still needed some touch ups. Except, there was something missing in the painting, the elegant turban and Griet’s posture seem fine. Vermeer felt his painting was not finished. The idea of the pearl earring erupted one night when Catherina wore pearl earrings. With an emerald evening gown and her earrings, the earring stood out so much that Vermeer thought about it. The element needed in the painting was pearl earrings. The painting seemed dull and needed the opaque yet shiny pearls to illuminate Griet’s face. Griet struggled to decide whether to wear Catherina’s pearl earrings, she felt as a traitor toward her mistress. Yet, Vermeer asked her to wear them. She couldn’t contradict the person who had saved her and her family from starvation. At the end, Griet accepted Vermeer’s request and the painting was completely finish. The problem came when Catherina saw Griet’s portrait. She was so mad that a maid had worn her beautiful pearl earring and that her own husband kept it a secret from her. Catherina’s anger caused so much commotion that Griet ran away from the Vermeers. Ironically, Griet did not have a chance to see her portrait completed. Ten years had gone by, Griet decided to live with Pieter as the butcher’s wife. The Vermeers had not pay the money they own to the butcher. However, Pieter did not mind. He explained it was the cost for his love. Anyhow, Griet’s life had changed dramatically. She became a common butcher and a mother. There were rumors of the Vermeers’ lost of Johannes Vermeer. Catherine had 11 children to feed and huge debt to pay up. One day, Maerte, daughter of the Vermeers, came to invite Griet to their house. Once again in the same place, Griet saw Catherina. Catherina only requested her presence just to follow her husband’s will. According to the will, Griet should keep the pearl earrings. After that, Griet left with the earrings and sold them. The money was to repay the Vermeers’ debt to her husband. Griet wanted to prove that, “a maid came free” (Chevalier 233).

Quote
“As she turned her head to brush more powder on her face the earring swung back and forth, caught in the light from the front windows. It made us look at her face, and reflected light as her eyes did” (Chevalier 193).

Reaction
Chevalier’s narration style throughout the novel had been outstanding. The storyline of the book had been amusing. Chevalier’s original creativity to decipher the history behind Vermeer’s enigmatic painting to the world is superb. The history behind the idea of the pearl earring in the painting was unique. In the quote above, Chevalier conveys to the reader how Vermeer came up with the pearl earring idea. As Catherina nags to Griet about her clumsiness to spill wine over her expensive green dress, the pearl earring shined with its radiance. This radiance caught Vermeer to make Griet wear the earring that foreshadowed trouble ahead. Also, the quote has a simile. The simile compares Catherina’s eyes and the pearl’s light, how they complemented each other. The dénouement was fantastic. Griet came back to peaceful times and lived happily. It was shocking when Vermeer died. I did not see that coming. Overall, the book was great!

I rate this book 4.9 out of 5. A bit dissapointed with the dénouement. ;)

Girl With A Pearl Earring (Page 118-181)

Title: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Author: Tracy Chevalier
Page 118-181

Summary
Griet was now 17 years old. The butcher’s son Pieter became interested in her. Griet still avoid his feelings. Except, soon her parents noticed him by his gifts to the emaciated family. Due to his gifts, Griet’s parents influenced her to be with him. Therefore, they started to date. As Griet’s relationship with Pieter became more intense and deep, Vermeer was done with the baker’s daughter portrait and began to paint another painting. The painting was a portrait of van Ruijven’s wife. With the help of Griet, Vermeer became a bit faster in his work. The faster Vermeer could paint, the more money will bring to the large family. Griet’s help toward Vermeer was a secret from Catherine. Griet felt anguish to run the errands of the mistress and the master simultaneously. One day, Mr. van Ruijven came up with the idea of painting Griet. He wanted a painting of her and, of course, Vermeer couldn’t deny his request. Mr. van Ruijven was his patron. He was well known womanizer and had a bad reputation despise his wealth. Once, there was a rumor of one of van Ruijven’s maid being painted with her master. At the end of the painting, the maid was pregnant. Griet heard the rumor from Pieter. She became aware of Mr. van Ruijven’s intentions. Maria Thins appeased Griet that she will not be painted by the likes of Vermeer’s patron. Thins tried to evade van Ruijven’s train of thoughts by proposing of his son in law to paint three musicians in a concert which he thought it was an excellent idea. On the other hand, the patron’s idea remained. Vermeer painted two pieces of arts. One painting about his patron and his two daughters playing musical instruments and another one of Griet alone, Griet’s portrait was a kept a secret from anyone in the story besides Maria Thins.

Quote
“His expression was not angry, but weary, as of a man who just seen all the wood he must chop, or a maid faced with a mountain of laundry” (Chevalier 163).

Reaction
Finally, Vermeer starts to paint Griet. Chevalier made a great assumption behind this mysterious painting. Since, most historians do not know who the girl in Vermeer’s painting is and why he painted her. Anyhow, Griet’s life has been common. She had gotten used to the endless chores and Catherine’s expectation from her. Griet’s conscience became heavier and heavier every single day by keeping secrets from her mistress. I foreshadow the secret will be divulge anytime soon. In the quote above, the narrator describes the reader about Vermeer being drunk. Vermeer was jaded by doubling his job. This quote is excellence since it has two literary devices. One is the simile with Vermeer and a man who cuts wood. The other one is the hyperbole with Griet and her laundry. The reader gets the idea that Griet has a ton of laundry but not exactly as a mountain. It is an interesting quote!