by MARK SLUTSKY

Not much is known about the life of the great Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, and Peter Webber's new film (and feature debut), Girl With a Pearl Earring, uses that to its advantage. While Vermeer is one of the film's central characters, this is in no way a biopic, but a fictional work based loosely on the known details of his life. Specifically, the movie (based on Tracey Chevalier's book) focuses on his painting of the same name, with a made-up backstory centring around a young maid in the Vermeer household. It's a quiet film, with lots of nicely observed detail and beautiful cinematography, though little about it is really revelatory or particularly fascinating.

Scarlett Johansson, still on a hot streak since Lost in Translation, plays Griet, a young woman from a poor family who's sent to work for the Vermeers when her family runs into financial difficulty. Living in a crowded house just off a canal in the Dutch city of Delft, Johannes (a broody Colin Firth) and family seem to subsist largely off the money proffered by Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson), a wealthy patron with a wandering eye. Vermeer's perfectionism means money isn't exactly rolling in, and when Johansson's presence sets off a creative spark in him, all sorts of complications arise, which lead, of course, to the famous painting.

Girl With a Pearl Earring is a very pretty film. The canals, streets, and shadowy rooms of 17th-century Holland are beautifully re-created, and Webber, along with director of photography Eduardo Serra, shoot these settings in a very Vermeer-esque manner. It's kind of what you'd expect from an arty film about a famous painter - exquisitely done, even the film stock itself has a sort of palpable, canvas-like grain.

It's Johansson's movie for the most part, and though she speaks very rarely, her performance is noticeably good, as she gives Griet a willfulness and intelligence without going overboard. Some of the other characters feel a little thin, but Johansson keeps the movie anchored and interesting, though in the end it feels like it doesn't add up to much.

Girl With a Pearl Earring opens Friday, Jan. 16 at Cinéma du Parc

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