A painter and his househelper-turned-subject find an unexpected spiritual and sensual bond by way of their mutual sensibility to light and color. A fictionalized account of the creation of one of Johannes Vermeer’s most famous paintings, Peter Webber’s Girl with a Pearl Earring perfectly evokes the 17th-century Netherlands of dark brick buildings, dirty streets, and perennially gray skies. In addition to Olivia Hetreed’s literate adaptation of Tracy Chevalier’s novel, and Webber’s delicate, deliberate touch, Girl with a Pearl Earring is made palpably real by cinematographer Eduardo Serra’s stark color palette, which was inspired by the Dutch masters themselves, art director Christina Schaffer’s careful period recreation, and Dien van Straalen’s realistic costumes. For nearly two hours, we are transported back in time to a world in which seething passion comes to the surface as lights and shadows on an artist’s canvas.
BEST FILM
Girl with a Pearl Earring
House of Sand and Fog
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Les Triplettes de Belleville / The Triplets of Belleville
21 Grams
BEST DIRECTOR
Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams)
Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog)
Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
BEST ACTOR
Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Jeff Bridges (Seabiscuit)
Benicio Del Toro (21 Grams)
Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog)
Sean Penn (21 Grams)
Tim Robbins (Mystic River)
Andreas Wilson (Ondskan / Fear)
BEST ACTRESS
Naomi Watts (21 Grams)
Jennifer Connelly (House of Sand and Fog)
Scarlett Johansson (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
Gwyneth Paltrow (Sylvia)
Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Colin Firth (Love Actually)
Jean-Marie Lamour (Swimming Pool)
Mark Lincoln (Love Actually)
Bill Nighy (Love Actually)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marie-Josée Croze (Les Invasions barbares / The Barbarian Invasions)
Jaroslava Adamová (Želary)
Shoreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog)
Essie Davis (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
Charlotte Gainsbourg (21 Grams)
Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River)
Melissa Leo (21 Grams)
Judy Parfitt (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
Emma Thompson (Love Actually)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Olivia Hetreed (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams)
Sylvain Chomet (Les Triplettes de Belleville / The Triplets of Belleville)
Vadim Perelman & Shawn Otto (House of Sand and Fog)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Eduardo Serra (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
Russell Boyd & Sandi Sissel (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World )
Roger A. Deakins (House of Sand and Fog)
Rodrigo Prieto (21 Grams)
John Schwartzman (Seabiscuit)
Asen Sopov (Želary)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
Klaus Badelt & Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Lisa Gerrard (Whale Rider)
James Horner (House of Sand and Fog)
Gustavo Santaolalla (21 Grams)