A film based on a book based on a Vemeer painting based on a girl servant, it reminded  me  of WongKarWai's In the Mood for Love - the way the characters, Colin "male-pms-er" Firth and 2004's ingenue Ms. Johansson,  get squashed up against each other in the confines of an old Dutch aristocrat house.  Subtle romance and paranoia ensues, with the audience its only witness, we relish the  undertones that line each eye movement and each touch between the artist and servant girl. Spirits gravitating towards each other despite circumstances. You can't help admiring the chemistry that produced this piece of art which  continues to invoke such feeling - centuries after. A period piece with timeless perspectives. A film for artists - it makes that Dutch Lady on those milk cartons look kinda attractive now.

Vemeer's wife : (Jealously) Why don't you paint me ?

Vemeer : You will never understand...