Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Goya's Ghosts (2006)

Director: Milos Forman

3

Critics' rating

Average user rating
4 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out New York

If you’re allergic to lackluster Lust for Life–ish biopics about painters, relax: Milos Forman’s new period piece isn’t interested in being the billionth portrait of an artist. There’s no mention of the subject’s childhood, tenure in Rome or marriage; when we first meet Francisco Goya (Skarsgård), he’s already bridging the worlds of classical and modern art. Instead, the filmmaker casts the figure as a passive observer to political oppression in 18th-century Spain. Specifically, the era that saw monks like Brother Lorenzo (Bardem) revive the Spanish Inquisition’s tactics and innocents like Inés (Portman) get thrown into prison for disliking pork. Forman suffered through Czechoslovakia’s occupation by the Soviets, but his sights are set on right now: The euphemisms used to make torture acceptable and an army commander’s insistence that troops will be greeted as liberators suggest that our current moral free fall is just history repeating itself.

All of which makes Goya’s Ghosts seem vital, until melodramatic elements turn into exponential silliness and sink the whole shebang. Do we need countless inserts of someone telling a deafened Goya what we’ve just heard? Did the costume department really think that ludicrous false teeth were the only way we’d tell the second of Portman’s two characters apart? When did eye-rolling become officially sanctioned as acceptable emoting?

Author: David Fear 2007-07-17 20:02:53

Time Out New York Issue 616: July 19–25, 2007

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

User reviews of this film

  • john galt said...
    Posted on Dec 10 2008 16:06 Thank God--not another Amadeus!
    A great film that uses the many pieces of Goya to unfold the dark side of the Church and its Inquisition. Brother Lorenzo far outshines Goya as a leading man, making it quite clear that Goya painted to satisfy his clients without much regard for the ethics or lifestyles. Not until his own deafness does the artist truly seem to care about one of his own models--decades too late.
    I think this film will become a notable film over time, and more criitcs will admire the light and dark filming that mimics the style of Goya himself--an artist known for studying the dark side of man.
    Report as inappropriate
  • oqfbxinj dotj said...
    Posted on Aug 01 2007 12:17 slreynvgm zdokfu qxfvns praxi nuzlpatbv pjftxr wnfixzsl
    Report as inappropriate
  • John C said...
    Posted on Jul 28 2007 13:54 I thought Forman's film was good. but not great I read some harsh reviews but the visuals compensated for the so-called defects in acting and plot & character development. OK it's not 'Amadeus' but it held my interest as you watched these people use their skills (some not honorable) to survive during difficult times. The audience seems to enjoy it. Goya's 'ghosts' are explained in the beginning when he mentions the faceless portrait, a reference to all the people who left his life. Goya is more of a recorder/spectator of events than a maker of them.
    Report as inappropriate
  • Gabriel said...
    Posted on Jul 03 2007 18:10 This film is very good. Natalie Portman is the best.
    Report as inappropriate
4 comments

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Goya's Ghosts

Cast & crew

Director: Milos Forman

Cast: Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Randy Quaid, Blanca Portillo, Michael Lonsdale, José Luis Gómez, Mabel Rivera full cast

Genre(s): Drama

Rated: R

Duration: 114 mins

Related articles


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.