Brush with Fate (2004, 2007)

Brush with Fate is a US movie about a painting – allegedly painted by Vermeer – which moves from owner to owner through the centuries. The movie was completed in 2003, shown on US television in 2004 and released on DVD in 2007. Here is some basic information about it:

*** Produced and directed by Brent Shields

*** Screenplay written by Richard Russo

*** Based on Susan Vreeland’s novel Girl in Hyacinth Blue

*** Run time: 100 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Glenn Close as Cornelia Engelbrecht – a teacher of history

** Paul Muller as Karl Engelbrecht (old man) – Cornelia’s father

** Hermann Weiskopf as Karl Engelbrecht (young man)

** Thomas Gibson as Richard – a teacher of art

** Jan Declair as Laurens (old man)

** Jenne Declair as Laurens (young man)

** Betty Schuurman as Digna – Laurens’ wife

** Thekla Reuten as Saskia – Stinjn’s wife

** Roef Ragas as Stijn – Saskia’s husband

** Kieran Bew as Adrian Kuypers – a student – Rika’s nephew

** Ellen Burstyn as Rika – Adrian’s aunt

** Kelly MacDonald as Aletta Pieters – a servant girl

** Roelant Radier as Johannes Vermeer

** Laurien van den Broek as Magdalena Vermeer – Johannes’ daughter

** Phylidda Law as Maria Thins – Johannes’ mother-in-law

Susan Vreeland is an American writer who is the author of several historical novels. The novel Girl in Hyacinth Blue on which this movie is based was published in 1999 (hardcover) and 2002 (paperback).

It is the story of a painting which moves from owner to owner through the centuries. According to the novel – which is a work of fiction - the painting is the work of the famous Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). Less than forty paintings are authenticated as works by this artist. According to the novel, this painting is a lost work of Vermeer.

When Susan Vreeland wrote her novel, she described the painting with words. She did not need an illustration. She did not need a painting. Things were different when the book was transformed into a movie. Now words were no longer enough.

An illustration was needed. A painting was needed. But there is no Vermeer painting called “Girl in Hyacinth Blue,” because the novel is a work of fiction. How could this problem be solved?

The moviemakers turned to the American painter Jonathan Janson, who lives and works in Rome, and who is an expert on Vermeer. He is the man behind the painting that we see several times in the movie. It is an excellent work. It really looks like a Vermeer. It could be a Vermeer. Unfortunately, it is not.

The movie begins with an introduction and ends with an epilogue. The main story in between is divided into six chapters. While introduction and epilogue are set in the US around 1998, the six chapters are set in Holland. Each chapter has a different location and a different time. Here are the headlines:

Chapter # 1. Vreeland, 1880 – “The Gift”

Chapter # 2. Groningen countryside, 1717 – “Morningshine”

Chapter # 3. The town of Delfzijl, 1716 – “The Waterwolf”

Chapter # 4. The town of Delft, 1712 – “Magdalena Looking”

Chapter # 5. Vermeer’s studio, 1670 – “Girl in Hyacinth Blue”

Chapter # 6. Amsterdam, 1942 – “A Night Different from All Other Nights”

I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. Therefore I am not going to reveal too much about what happens in this movie. I will only tell you how the story begins:

Richard is a teacher of art. He has just been hired at a school, because the previous teacher of art suddenly died. One of his colleagues, Cornelia Engelbrecht, who is a teacher of history, invites him to her home, because she has something that she wants him to see. Once he is there, she shows him to a room where the only decoration is a painting.

When he sees it, he is fascinated by the beauty of the work. When he says it looks like a Vermeer, she insists that it is a Vermeer. He is not convinced. He wants her to prove it. How can a work by the famous Dutch painter Vermeer be in her house, unknown to the world?

She says she has studied the history of this painting and she will tell him all about it, how it moved from owner to owner; all the way back to 1670 when the painting was painted by Vermeer.

This is how the story begins, and this is where my presentation ends. If you want to know what happened with the painting, how it moved from owner to owner through the centuries, you will have to read the book or watch the movie all the way to the end.

What do reviewers say about the movie? On Rotten Tomatoes it has an audience score of 52 per cent. On IMDb it has a rating of 63 per cent. Both average ratings correspond to (almost) three stars on Amazon.

If you ask me, this rating is quite appropriate. This movie has some positive elements, but it also has some negative elements. Let me explain:

** On the positive side, I will say that the story is captivating, dramatic, and emotional. The painting that appears from time to time is a wonderful painting. We can understand why it is highly appreciated by almost everyone who happens to look at it. In addition, the Dutch scenery provides some beautiful images.

** On the negative side, I will say that there are some loose ends. There are major gaps in the history of the painting. What happens between 1717 and 1880? What happens between 1880 and 1942? In addition, there is a problem with the language that is spoken in the movie.

Since introduction and epilogue are set in the US, English is spoken here. No problem. But all six chapters in between are set in Holland. If you look at the chart above, you will see that many actors in this movie are Dutch, but they all speak English!

Since the story is set in Holland, the actors should speak Dutch. When the actors chosen for the movie are Dutch, they can speak Dutch, but they were told to speak English!

This is most unfortunate, because it is not realistic, it is not credible, it is not convincing. Why did the movie-makers tell the Dutch actors to speak English and not use their own language?

The answer is that movie-makers in the US are afraid of using subtitles. In the US, people are not used to subtitles. Some people hate subtitles so much that they will refuse to watch a movie if they know that it is in a foreign language with subtitles.

This is a problem not only in the US, but in most large countries. In smaller countries, such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden, people are used to subtitles, and no one has a problem with this.

The movie-makers should have told the Dutch actors speak Dutch and should have covered the dialogue with English subtitles. This would have been realistic. This would have made the movie much more convincing. It is a shame they did not do that.

I like this movie and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, it has two major flaws, which cannot be ignored. I have to remove one star for each of them. Therefore I think it deserves a rating of three stars.

PS # 1. Brush with Fate can be compared with the movie The Red Violin from 1999, which tells us the history of a violin which moves from owner to owner through the centuries.

PS # 2. Brush with Fate can also be compared with the movie Girl with a Pearl Earring from 2003, which tells us how one of Vermeer’s paintings came to be made. This time the painting is real but the story behind it is a fantasy.

PS # 3. “Brush with Fate” is a common expression. In most cases, the emphasis is on the last word “fate.” But in this case, because the movie about a painting, the emphasis is on the first word “brush.” Some reviewers do not like the title of the movie. They feel the movie-makers should have kept the title of the novel Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Perhaps they should. Whatever the case, the double meaning of the word “brush” only works in English.

PS # 4. For information about Vermeer, his life and his works, see the following book: Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675): Veiled Emotions by Norbert Schneider (Taschen, 1993; reprinted 2016).

PS # 5. Essential Vermeer is a website established by Jonathan Janson, which offers a lot of information about the Dutch painter and his works.

*****

 

*****