Goya's Ghosts

Terrific Movie

At long last, a truly beautiful film about art, history and the people who lived at the time.

The sets are beautifully done and are as close to Goya's sketches as possible. Also, an extremely fine cast.

One caution: if you like Thomas Kinkade's paintings, you will not like this film as Goya's work is neither pretty nor soothing. Having lived through the Inquisition, the French Revolution and later, his sketch pad was his camera and torture and death were some of the main subjects.

However, if you want to see 18th century history in Spain through an artist's eyes, the movie was wonderful. June 16, 2008

Great Goya's Ghost

This is an enjoyable and interesting movie. It is the work of Milos Forman of Amadeus fame. This is not the stunning fast paced and colorful display of Amadeus, but it is a fine looking and entertaining film chocked full of tasty historical and philosophical tidbits. It also has that sense of mystery that made Amadeus so great.

I though it would be more biographical, but it turns into an interesting story about the end of the Golden Age of Spain as well as perspective on the War of Independence.

I won't give the story away because it is much more fun for the viewer to be surprised at the interesting twists and turns.

The acting can at times be a little stiff, but once the story was completed I appreciated it as a whole. So be patient and let it unfold.

The portrayal of Goya is subtle. He is not lionized or trashed. Stellan Skarsgård plays the role with a degree of sophistication and worldliness that is surprising. The acting of Natalie Portman is a take it or leave proposition. But the Brother Lorenzo played by Javier Bardem is a witty and enjoyable villain on par with Maestro Salieri. Randy Quaid is truly memorable as the aging dimwitted King of Spain.

Many interesting historical events and artistic developments are on display in the film. So it is a feast for the lover of Spanish culture.

We can only hope we will see many more films of this kind. The movies is hardly a slave to history or a slave to convention. In telling an interesting story, the film gets the facts over and implies a great deal about life in Madrid at the turn of the 19th Century.

I have the DVD on the shelf and I am anxious to show it to another friend who has not seen it yet. It really adds to a pleasant day and gives you and your literary friends a lot to talk about. June 11, 2008

good performances

Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) works on a series of paintings, one of which is of Father Lorenzo (Javier Bardem), who is captivated by his painting of Ines Bilbatua (Natalie Portman). When Ines is enquired by the Church about her religious activities and beliefs, her father Thomas contacts Goya with the hope that his connection with Lorenzo will ensure the release of his daughter. What follows is a captivating account of politics and religion during the Spanish Inquisition, that will change their lives.

Not being a fan of Forman films, I was a little skeptic about this movie.
While there certainly are some inaccuracies in the script, the movie is still very enjoyable thanks to its storyline, as well as its cast. Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman give good performances, especially Portman since she handles the mother/daughter roles to perfection.
The costumes and decors are quite well done.

Recommended to anyone who enjoys historical movies.
June 6, 2008

Horrible ending

Movie was great until it got to the end and it just leaves you hanging........wondering what happens to several characters. A little disappointing. June 4, 2008

Meh.

Goya's Ghosts (Milos Forman, 2006)

There was a time when I thought Milos Forman can do no wrong. That time is long past, alas, but I still at least attempt to watch everything the man releases. The fact that Javier Bardem had a major role in this one was added spice, since I also attempt to watch everything he releases. I was pretty much sold on Goya's Ghosts from the time I first heard about it, despite its getting almost no play in American theaters (hey, neither did William Friedkin's amazing Bug) and lukewarm-at-best critical reviews (if the critics can't find the greatness in Barbet Schroeder's Our Lady of the Assassins, what good are they anyway?). This time, however, I was wrong, and everyone else was right; Goya's Ghosts is overlong, overslow, and despite an exceptionally juicy plot, overboring as well.

The great Stellan Skarsgard, who seems to hamstring himself more often than not by finding the silliest roles he can, here stars as Goya, the icnonoclastic painter making his living by poking fun at Mother Church during the hottest days of the Inquisition. Despite his disfavor with the church, Brother Lorenzo (Bardem), an Inquisitor, commissions Goya for a portrait, giving Goya an ear in the church. Goya needs it when Ines (Natalie Portman), the daughter of a friend of Goya's, is arrested and thrown into the dungeon to be tortured. When Lorenzo's superiors refuse to release her, said friend (Jose Luis Gomez) arranges a dinner for Lorenzo with a nasty surprise attached. Fast-forward fifteen years; the Inquisition is in ruins, the French have invaded Spain, Goya is basically oblivious to everything around him after the trauma of that dinner party and its fallout, and Ines is still missing. Commence second half of movie, about which I can say nothing without major spoilers.

Bardem, as usual, is the real centerpiece here. (I find it amusing that most reviews I've read overlook the obvious-- that he's a scheming, selfish beast-- and instead consider him to be a champion for whatever cause he happens to be espousing at any given time during the film.) The man can do no wrong, even when he ends up in a thoroughly awful film (e.g., Dios Contados). Skarsgard, on the other hand, often seems as if he's only as strong as the material he's working with-- brilliant in Insomnia, while ineffective and boring in The Glass House. He comes off as somewhat flat here when playing the flamboyant Goya, and I'll admit it does work well during the second half of the film, but during the first, there always seems to be something slightly wrong with his portrayal. Portman, as usual, is just gorgeous, but I'm still waiting for a performance from her anywhere near the caliber she showed in Leon; her work in the second half of this movie is as close as she's come to date, but is still a few notches below. Forman's career took a nosedive after Amadeus and hasn't yet righted itself (while it's a given that Valmont is a far, far better film than Dangerous Liaisons, let's face it, ten times nothing is still nothing); perhaps that's why this is only his fourth film in the past twenty years. And it's a decided improvement over his last one, the godawful Man on the Moon, but it's still more a curiosity than anything else. Recommended for hardcore fans of Javier Bardem; everyone else can ignore it. **
May 30, 2008

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