Goya's Ghosts (2006)

Director:

Milos Forman

Writers (WGA):

Milos Forman (written by) &
Jean-Claude Carrière (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Tell me what the truth is

Plot:

Painter Francisco Goya faces a scandal involving his muse, who is labeled a heretic by a monk.

Plot Keywords:

Goya | Painter | Painting | Spanish Inquisition | Monk

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Javier Bardem	...	Lorenzo
Natalie Portman	...	Inés / Alicia
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Francisco Goya
Randy Quaid	...	King Carlos IV
José Luis Gómez	...	Tomás Bilbatúa
Michael Lonsdale	...	Father Gregorio
Blanca Portillo	...	Queen María Luisa
Mabel Rivera	...	María Isabel Bilbatúa
Unax Ugalde	...	Ángel Bilbatúa
Fernando Tielve	...	Álvaro Bilbatúa
David Calder	...	Monk 1
Frank Baker	...	Monk 2
Ramón Langa	...	Hooded Monk
Manuel de Blas	...	Pyre Monk
Andrés Lima	...	Confiscating Monk

Also Known As:

Los fantasmas de Goya (Spain) (dubbed version)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, disturbing images, some sexual content and nudity.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Germany:12 | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-13 | Netherlands:12 | USA:R | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Italy:T | Brazil:14 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Monasterio de Veruela, Veruela, Vera de Moncayo, Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain

Company:

Antena 3 Televisión

Trivia:

When asked why a film about such a quintessentially Spanish artist was made in English, the director replied "I don't speak Spanish."

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the film, Goya voice-overs that he lost his hearing during the war with France, beginning in 1807. The truth is that Goya went deaf much earlier, and he should have been deaf during most of the events leading up to the war.

Quotes:

[Goya is trying to see Inés]
Goya: I am painter to the king!
Asylum Director: So what, I have three Napoleon Bonapartes in here, and two of them are Arabs.

Goya in the background

A film by Milos Forman is always an event. This will probably not remain as one of the best in his career, and was surrounded by a level of controversy, not the least among critics who received it very differently. Yet, it is certainly a film to watch.

The story actually does not have Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) in the center. It is rather the story of a corrupt morality policeman of the 18th century (Javier Bardem) imprisoning a young girl (Natalie Portman) on the unjust suspicion of practicing Judaism in secret. It is the story of a police state built on social injustice relying on pretended moral puritanism in order to save the system. This happens at the price of huge human suffering like the drama in the center of the story, and here is the painter as a witness, living the dilemma of becoming involved as a human or remaining a witness as an artist. We know what path Goya chose.

I was not unhappy neither with the acting, nor with the story line, although it is a little bit too melo-dramatic and too much prone to coincidences. Forman is not so much focused on the drama or better say melo-drama, or even in the historical detail, although he seems to be on familiar ground getting back to the period in 'Amadeus'. What he is busy with seems to be more re-creating some of Goya's paintings and prints and tracing back the origin of inspiration of these masterpieces. In a way the film can be read as justification of the choice Goya made in life.