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.