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Dangerous obsession
This powerful Oscar-nominated period drama, directed by Peter Webber, is based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier and tells the fictional story behind Vermeer's famous, mysterious painting, Girl With a Pearl Earring.

Delft, Holland, 1665. After her father, a tile painter, is blinded in a kiln explosion, 17-year-old Griet (Scarlett Johansson) must work to support her family. She becomes a maid in the house of Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) and gradually attracts the master painter's attention.

Though worlds apart in upbringing, education and social standing, Vermeer recognises Griet's intuitive understanding of colour and light and slowly draws her into the mysterious world of his paintings.

Vermeer is a perfectionist, often taking months to finish a painting. His shrewd mother-in-law, Maria Thins (Judy Parfitt), struggles to maintain the family's lavish lifestyle on the income from his painstakingly meagre output. Seeing that Griet inspires Vermeer, she takes the dangerous decision to allow their clandestine relationship to develop.

Plunged into a chaotic Catholic household run by Vermeer's volatile wife Catharina (Essie Davis), surrounded by an ever-increasing brood of children, Griet is increasingly at risk of exposure or worse.

Twelve-year-old Cornelia (Alakina Mann), a mischevious girl who sees more than she should, quickly grows jealous and suspicious of Griet and is determined to cause trouble.

Alone and unprotected, Griet also contends with the attentions of Pieter (Cillian Murphy), a local butcher boy, and Vermeer's patron, the wealthy and lascivious Master van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson), who is frustrated that his money does not buy him control over the artist. While Griet falls increasingly under Vermeer's spell, she cannot be sure of his feelings for her.

The Machiavellian van Ruijven, sensing the intimacy between master and maid, gleefully contrives a commission for Vermeer to paint Griet alone. The result will be one of the greatest paintings ever created, but at what cost?

Did you know? When Griet and Pieter are walking down a country lane, a man is seen riding a bicycle in the distance. This is an error; the bicycle was invented in 1763, nearly 100 years after the year that the film is set.

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Picture: Lions Gate Films

FILM: Girl with a Pearl Earring, BBC 2 at 21:35 on Monday 31st December 2007

Drama inspired by a portrait of a young woman painted by 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. A young peasant girl, employed as a maid in the Vermeer household, charms the artist with her grace and beauty to the point where he feels compelled to capture her qualities on canvas.
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described)

Director: Peter Webber
Starring: Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt, Cillian Murphy, Essie Davis