Movies from the Heart—Girl with a Pearl Earring

Have you ever thought of telling the story of a painting in a book or film? Because that’s what this hit novel, of the same name as the film, did – in a spell-binding manner.

Take a look at the trailer for the film.

Art historians have argued and argued about the Vermeer painting—“Girl with a Pearl Earring”—trying to get to the bottom of who the girl was, why she was wearing such an expensive pearl earring, and why Vermeer painted her.

The thing is, nobody knows the answer to any of those questions—so they speculate. And, unless some writings surface from the 1700s where Vermeer explains something that would answer those questions, we’ll never know. So for the screenwriter, or the novelist, this is gold—you can make up whatever you want, say absolutely anything, and you can’t be proven wrong.

In many ways, it’s the ideal situation for the curious writer. You’re curious about a painting and what inspired it—curious, perhaps, about the lives of the people in the painting, and curious abut why the writer chose to paint the person in the painting. You can make up any story under the sun and no one can prove you wrong!

Girl with a Pearl Earring [2003] by Olivia Hetreed, takes us to Amsterdam to explore the work of the famous Vermeer. Only a very few of his paintings survive but he’s an incredibly acclaimed artist. Known as the “painter of light” this film gives us a chance to get inside his life. And as we don’t know that much about his life, it gives the writer carte blanche to imagine that life. And though the title of the film is about “the girl” it’s also very much about Vermeer.

Try this. Try picking a painting that you like and imagine a story behind it. Go to your local art museum and check out what’s on the walls. Find a painting you like and just sit down in front of it and let your imagination go wild. Can you come up with the backstory for the painting? Can you imagine what happened to the people in the painting earlier that day, for example? And can you imagine what they’ll be running off to do once they’ve finished sitting for the artist?

Most of us realize the need for physical exercise and put it into our routine. But what about the mind? And especially the writer’s mind! Doesn’t it need a workout just as much as the body?

This painting challenge can test your writing muscles and, who knows, you might just come up with a great story!!

Next week a special blog. It’s a bit of an anniversary—my 400^th blog!

Copyright © Diane Lake

14Jul24

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com