The plot of the story is very simple, the girl Greer came to the painter's house as a maid because of her poor family, where she fell in love with the painter's paintings and then fell in love with the painter himself, but the weak painter, jealous lady, full of resentment. The young lady, the domineering old lady, and the domineering art dealer constitute a hard fortress. The girl is destined to be someone outside that world. In the end, the girl had to return to the secluded alley and stay with the butcher for the rest of her life, leaving behind the enigmatic painting. Oil painting, and the beautiful figure in the painting who is still talking.
For some reason, many people who have seen this film think it is a romantic love story, but I think its greatest charm is its ruthless portrayal of reality. Personally, what I dislike the most is not the hysterical mistress, nor the domineering old lady, but the hero who is seen by many as a romantic lover—the painter (though I admit Colin Firth s played well).
Like all self-proclaimed artists, Vermeer the painter is easily moved by beautiful things, and then like a child to get that beautiful thing. Of course, the painters at this time were brave, pursued beautiful things like a knight, and even stood up at some point to protect the beloved woman. If the story goes on like this, then the movie really becomes a boring "romantic love story". Fortunately it didn't. That talented and noble painter finally exposed the shamelessness and weakness of the vast majority of men. Amid the angry and desperate cries of his wife, he retreated like all men, leaving the innocent girl who was pulled down by him to face the resentment and viciousness of the other three women alone. In the end, the girl turned around stiffly and desperately, and left the world that didn't belong to her. I think this ending is true, whether it's the seventeenth or the twenty-first century, men who look tough are never as daring as they appear to be. So innocent girls can only be a victim. Women who play with fire will set themselves on fire, and men who play with fire tend to burn women.
Because what is portrayed is a cold reality, the performance of the actors does not have the sweetness often seen in love stories. I have always liked Scarlett Johansson, her eyes always have a mixture of calm, melancholy and stubbornness, even if she plays an innocent girl, it will not make people feel naive and shallow. I don't like women who have no brains and who only follow the lead of men. No matter how much suffering a woman suffers, it will not have a solemn and tragic color.
The other three supporting actresses also performed well. The hostess, who has long lost trust in her husband, has been living in a trance and suspicion. She has been carefully protecting herself and maintaining that little bit of poor dignity. But when her husband's eyes could see her as a vacuum directly to the maid who was cleaning the table in the back, and put her pearl earrings on the ears of the lowly maid, her world completely collapsed. In the century, she was just a victim. The old mother-in-law with almost no expression on her face was actually a figure in power. In order to please the art dealer, she condoned the approach of her son-in-law and maid, and even stole pearls for them. She did this not because of sympathy for those two people, but because of her. It was clear that she could keep them close as well as keep them apart. She had already seen through that talented but courageous painter who could only struggle and would not resist, so she looked at everything coldly without fear. In stark contrast to her is the painter's precocious daughter, with a sweet appearance, she has long felt the lack of security from her mother's terrified life. She combined the nervousness of her mother and the coldness of her grandmother. She sensed the detachment between her father and the beautiful maid very early on, but she did not have the rights of her grandmother, so she used every means a child could think of to protect her and her poor mother. Her tactics were clumsy, but in the end she succeeded. The war between the four women unfolds slowly in the actors' performances. You have to admire the director's ability to control this tension, so that you can feel the beauty, but it is by no means beautiful.
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