Couch Potato Pickings | Girl with a Pearl Earring | Movie Talk | What's on TV

Inspired by the bestselling novel by Tracy Chevalier, this film speculates on what might have inspired 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer to paint his celebrated masterpiece, Girl with a Pearl Earring. Click here to see the painting.

I haven’t seen this film yet but I intend to do so tonight. It stars Scarlett Johansson as the maid servant who inspires Vermeer. I always find Johansson’s face utterly captivating so this sounds like perfect casting for a story about a painter’s muse. Apparently, the film’s cinematography attempts to recapture Vermeer's masterful use of light, colour and texture too, so it promises to be a feast for the eyes.

Girl with a Pearl Earring is showing on BBC2 tonight at 9pm