Goya in Bordeaux (1999)

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his ... See full summary »

Director:

Carlos Saura

Writers:

Carlos Saura, Luigi Scattini (dialogue: Italian version)

Stars:

Francisco Rabal, Jose Coronado, Dafne Fernández

12 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Francisco Rabal	...	Goya
Jose Coronado	...	Goya Joven
Dafne Fernández	...	Rosario (as Dafne Fernádez)
Eulàlia Ramon	...	Leocadia (as Eulalia Ramón)
Maribel Verdú	...	Duquesa de Alba
Joaquín Climent	...	Moratín
Cristina Espinosa	...	Pepita Tudó
Josep Maria Pou	...	Godoy (as Jose María Pou)
Saturnino García	...	Cura y San Antonio
Concha Leza	...	Mujer en Andalucía
Franco di Francescantonio	...	Doctor en Andalucía
Carlos Hipólito	...	Juan Valdés
Manuel de Blas	...	Salcedo
Pedro Azorín	...	Braulio Poe
Emilio Gutiérrez Caba	...	José de la Cruz

Storyline

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his much younger wife Leocadia and their daughter Rosario. He continues to paint at night, and in flashbacks stirred by conversations with his daughter, by awful headaches, and by the befuddlement of age, he relives key times in his life, particularly his relationship with the Duchess of Alba, his discovery of how he wanted to paint (insight provided by Velázquez's work), and his lifelong celebration of the imagination. Throughout, his reveries become tableaux of his paintings.

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Plot Keywords:

exile | duchess of alba | bordeaux | flashback | duchess | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality and violent imagery

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

Spain Italy

Language:

Spanish French

Release Date:

12 November 1999 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Goya in Bordeaux

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$47,962, 17 September 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$716,592, 21 January 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lolafilms, Italian International Film, RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Strange coincidence: the actor Francisco Rabal not only plays the old Goya but in real life also died in Bordeaux, in 2001, two years after premiering the film.

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Goofs

In some copies on the film, when Goya's daughter Rosario is showing him her drawing, sitting on an easel in the background we see "La lechera de Burdeos/The Milkmaid of Bordeaux", one of the artist's last paintings. The image we see is reversed - the milkmaid is facing to the right and in the original she faces to the left. This is so due to the fact that the negative of some DVDs and some release prints is inverted in a brief middle section of the film that includes this scene. Another scene is that in which he is commissioned to paint the frescoes of San Antonio de la Florida Chapel.

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Connections

Referenced in Frida (2002)

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Soundtracks

Tambourine for Piano
Composed by François Couperin
Performed by Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

User Reviews

A Stirring Journey into Goya's Psyche

A psychological portrait of Goya in his last days, the film illuminates his art and complexities. An invocation of Goya's paintings and drawings in their hallucinatory themes and colors, we are presented with a stream of consciousness narrative in which the great and influential Spanish master reminisces about his past glories and failures, his joys and sorrows, his loves and loses, and the darkness and light that forged his work.

This Carlos Saura's film is as visionary and evocative as Goya's art and should not be be missed by anyone who is interested in art, the creative process, and the conflicting forces in artists' lives.