The Miniaturist (2017)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

An adaptation of Jessie Burton's novel. The Miniaturist tells the story of Petronella Oortman (Anya Taylor-Joy) an 18 year old woman married off to a wealthy sugar merchant, Johannes Brandt (Alex Hassell.)She has moved from the provinces to the thriving city of Amsterdam and living in her husband's household run by her initially severe sister in law Marin (Romola Garai) which has two servants.The house seems to contain secrets, her husband is rather reluctant to be with her but he does give her a dollhouse as a wedding gift. Petronella furnishes the doll house with miniature replicas that arrive as gifts. The miniaturist making the dolls may have a second sight as her real life replicas seems to betray what is being remain hidden in the household or maybe she has just observed what was there all along in plain sight.Petronella tries to adapt to her new life, but she is doing so without her husband's love yet he is pleasant to her.The series was gloomily lit to reflect Nella' mood. The photography and art direction are inspired by a Vermeer or Rembrandt painting. The series was unsure whether it was a supernatural drama with shades of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca or a story of a young woman being defiant as the household's dark secrets unfold but it did feel unsatisfying.

I agree with the reviewer below who said that the miniaturist served nothing. If the core of everything is the miniaturist (not the miniatures !), the film could be titled as "the miniaturist"; while the core of the film is the girl Nella! Why isn't it called "Nella and her myserious miniatures" or something like that? I've never read the book, so I'm not saying about the book; Watching the film. when I first saw Nella (who seemed quite center-character like) I thought SHE was the miniaturist (because the title is The Miniaturist) but then oh no the miniaturist is just a mysterious girl served nothing. On the other hand, Nella is strong and not religion-baffled like Marin(though she is sort of a feminist too). The characters are charming, though Johannes is really dumb-like (while Frans is played rather convincingly here).

The Miniaturist teases you with the prospect of a proper mystery, but delivers only a tedious soap opera revolving around a group of characters apparently designed by a BBC diversity commission. Plausibility and realism are clearly not the priorities here: character 1) a freed slave/household servant who doesn't act like a servant but lips off the masters of the house, standing up for his rights and dignities in a way that makes us enlightened 21st-century folk feel great, but is radically unlikely for a 17th-century black man, and probably would have got him whipped or worse. Character 2) a homosexual man who supposedly has to hide his proclivities from society at large, but in fact spends nearly all his time having sex in semi-public places, resulting in his sexuality being known by pretty much everyone in town including, 3) his young wife, who after an extremely brief period of being upset about the fact that she was deceived into marrying a gay man, realizes that their marriage is not a lie, but just "different" and happily embraces the fact that her own sexuality and opportunity for motherhood has been effectively stolen from her. 4) The gay man's sister, who has her own dark secrets, namely, sleeping with a married man and getting pregnant. And so they all form a merry band of politically-correct 17th-century heros and fight against their common enemies (all the straight, white, non-adulterating people of Amsterdam). I'm personally pretty left-wing, but as a thinking person, I can't help but find this kind of heavy-handed liberal moralizing and historically-revisionist storytelling galling and offensive. And frankly, it just gives fuel to the right-wing wackos and so is counterproductive. With some subtlety and realism, these characters could have been portrayed to much greater effect.On the upside, the visuals are lovely and the miniatures are exquisite. The performances are also solid. If you can turn your brain off while watching, you just might enjoy it.

Jessie Burton's 2014 debut novel 'The Miniaturist' does have a good deal to admire. Although some of the characterisation lacks depth (especially Johannes of the main characters), Burton's depiction of the 17th century Amsterdam setting is so attentive to detail that one feels like unseen observers of the action and the atmosphere has a real eeriness and mysteriousness. Its 2017 adaptation does a very respectable job adapting it. There is a lot to admire and there are not a lot of adaptations that manage to be faithful in most detail and the spirit of the source material without being too faithful. 'The Miniaturist' manages this obstacle very well. It is easy to see why it won't click with some viewers. For a BBC period drama (or any kind of television period drama for that matter), it is quite unconventional, the setting is not one seen a lot, it's not adapted from the work of a famous novelist like Charles Dickens or Jane Austen, it's a slow burner and there are a few scenes not for the faintest of hearts. 'The Miniaturist' is not perfect. Telling who is who in the supporting roles is not easy at first, that and that it never quite overcomes the book's characterisation shallowness (Johannes did seem underdeveloped at first, and the supporting roles are fairly sketchy other than how they serve to the story and any important events), are the first half's only real problems for me. Second half is very compelling and quality is extremely high throughout, but not everything felt resolved enough. The miniaturist explanation seemed half-baked, confused and needed more time than it had to explain it properly (flashbacks may have helped perhaps) and a couple of subplots like the sugar one didn't feel tied up enough and still felt hung open by the slightly abrupt end. However, 'The Miniaturist' is hugely successful everywhere else. Visually it is quite an achievement. It's sumptuously shot, atmospherically lit and the period detail is like a puritan era-set/Rembrandt painting come to vivid life. The mix of austere and not-so-austere (with flashes of brighter colours in Nella's costuming) costumes was striking. The doll's house was beautifully designed and suitably mysterious, while the miniatures were exquisitely eerie. Music score was understated yet hypnotic. The dialogue provoked thought and intrigued without letting go. It is very stirring and taut in the trial scene too. Where the 'The Miniaturist' (2017) really succeeds too is in the atmosphere, again advantaged by the source material. The story unfolds in a slow-burner way but the mysteriousness, subtle tension, eeriness and dark dread to me it didn't feel ponderous. The climactic moments are quite powerful, and, even though one wishes they could have gotten to know the characters more, it is hard not to feel that the outcome is an injustice. Direction is atmospheric and draws out uniformly great performances from the cast. In particular Romola Garai, a revelation in a formidable but complex roles. Anya Taylor-Joy enchants and affects as Nella, avoiding making her too passive, while Alex Hassell is brooding and charismatic, particularly telling in the trial scene where Johannes makes a very persuasive case for himself. Hayley Squires is a spirited Cornelia while Geoffrey Streatfield brings authority to Frans, a character that part of you hates.Overall, very well crafted and very admirable. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox