EC#1 - Girl with a Pearl Earring

 

The movie <Girl with a Pearl Earring, 2003> is a work by Johannes Jan Vermeer and is the title of a painting depicting a girl with a pearl earring, as the title suggests. Vermeer represents the Netherlands and is also famous for painting paintings that express light in a subtle way against a monotonous background.

In the 'Girl with a Pearl Earring,' neither the background of this picture nor the Girl's costume is flashy. However, the light from the pearl earrings shining from the Girl's ear was brilliantly drawn. Contrasting light and darkness in the small picture were achieved with the tiny brush strokes in the pearl earring, and the light made the Girl's expression more mysterious. The Girl with the pearl earring in work mysteriously stimulated the imagination of many people. A novel with the same name appeared as the main character. The world began to pay special attention to whether she was a natural person or a fictional person. This film is a reconstruction of a novel in which the girl with a pearl earring assumes that a girl is a natural person. I want to believe that the mysterious 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' in Vermeer's work and this movie is a natural person.

The film Girl With A Pearl Earring (2003) is set in Delft, the Netherlands, in 1665. Griet, who lives here, works as a maid for the painter Johannes Jan Vermeer to support her family when his father, who had worked as a pottery craftsman, lost his sight and could not work. Will do There are many maids in Vermeer's house, but they are not financially wealthy. She has to earn a living by selling the jewelry that her wife, Catharina had saved up. Vermeer has only one supporter, Van Ruijven. Vermeer's family has a unique attitude towards him, as their only income is to receive support from him. They have often invited Van Ruijven to request painting commissions. The mother-in-law promotes the work of Sarah's son-in-law, whose patronage is cut off, but Vermeer's attitude is not very desperate.

Meanwhile, Catharina entrusts Griet to clean Vermeer's studio. She then wakes up, and she asks, 'Can I clean the window if the light change is ok?' Perhaps he had an artistic flair he inherited from his father, a pottery craftsman. While cleaning the window, Griet meets Vermeer for the first time. After a while, Vermeer saw the painting he was working on in the dark box ordered by Vermeer and recognized Griet's artistic sense. Since her painter's studio is a very secret space, her work was perfect to arouse her curiosity in others. And that makes Catharina suspicious.

Catharina doesn't like Vermeir, who reacts very sensitively to Griet's problems, but she can't be expelled immediately because of her lack of staff. At that moment, Van Ruijven, who was invited to receive her patronage, picks up Griet and tells him to put Griet and herself in the picture. And Vermeer reacts violently to his words once again, raising Catharina's suspicions.

There is an artistic sympathy between Griet and Vermeer. Vermeer naturally brings Griet into her studio, where access to everyone is restricted, and she has a challenging conversation about light and color with Griet. Considering the historical background, the relationship between the 'master' and the 'maid' must have been perfectly vertical. For that reason, it must have been cautious for the two of them to have a conversation or have artistic communication. The two showed very restrained words and actions. So the sympathy between them seems to be very delicate and sensual, and it was deep and profound.

Vermeer, who became more intimately acquainted with Griet, was unable to turn down the request of his only patron, Van Ruijven. In the end, Vermeer decides to paint the picture, which becomes a strange gossip that circulates all over Delft. Ironically, this rumor must have been a rumor between Griet and Van Ruijven, but it was also a rumor of suspicion between Griet and Vermeer. Vermeer orders Griet to take off the hood and put on a cloth. Although he barely took off his hood, Vermeer's gaze was intense as he watched Griet touch his hair. Griet's unique flair is that he wraps his hair in blue and ivory fabrics. The fact that blue, meaning 'Mother of God', was used in the past works of art seems to prove that the relationship between the two was pure. Hang the pearl earrings, the highlight of 'Girl with a Pearl Earring,' to Griet.

​The finally completed 'Girl with a Pearl Earring shows Griet wearing a pearl earring. Because she was pregnant with her seventh, it was a painting that she did not show to Catharina until the end. Still, as suspicious things increased in a sensitive situation, she looked at the painting and said, 'obscene.' She only did not express it. Still, it was a situation that everyone was suspicious of. And it was only Vermeer who knew the truth. As if acknowledging her all, Griet does not resist and leaves without a word of excuse. And after a while, she receives the pearl earrings that she wore in the artwork. When I look at the paintings at that time, the meaning seems to be very sophisticated. There are not many things that can be expressed honestly and raw like a painting these days. And the movie itself seems to have restrained expressions like an actual painting, and I think it was a fun movie to watch and understand carefully as if I am looking at a painting.

 

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