Goya's Ghosts (15)

Film

Drama

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Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>2/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>5/5
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Time Out says

Tue May 1 2007

If biopics ‘Amadeus’ and ‘Man on the Moon’ offered askew looks at their subjects, Milos Forman’s latest strains the neck further. The great Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) is little more than observer here, making way for an imagining of the afflicted souls who inspired and haunted his twisted artworks. Thus, enter Goya’s muse Inés (Natalie Portman), imprisoned and tortured by the Inquisition for ‘Judaising’, and soft-voiced Inquisition supremo, Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem), himself (in a wonderfully mad scene) tortured by Inés’ merchant father until he confesses he’s ‘the bastard son of a chimpanzee’ and agrees to help her. Co-scripted by Buñuel’s screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, it’s watchable, if faintly ridiculous, giving off a distinct mini-series whiff as 15 years later Lorenzo returns as a Bonapartist and Inés, with the now-deaf Goya’s help, searches for her missing daughter (Portman again). With its riffs on art, its split-in-half story and Goya-esque production design, you can see it reaching for grand ideas about actions and their reverberations, but it merely rumbles on, illuminating neither the artist nor his tumultuous times.

Author: Nick Funnell

5

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Release details

Rated:

15

UK release:

Fri May 4 2007

Duration:

114 mins

Cast and crew

Cast:

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

Editor:

Adam Boome

Cinematography:

Javier Aguirresarobe

Screenwriter:

Jean-Claude Carriere, Milos Forman

Director:

Milos Forman

Production Designer:

Patrizia von Brandenstein

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 5/5 (2 ratings)

  • The movie started out good but steadily declined. At the end of the movie it seems pointless.

    Kindly Fri Jun 25 2010
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  • 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.

    john galt Wed Dec 10 2008
    Rated as: 5/5
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    oqfbxinj dotj Wed Aug 1 2007
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  • 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.

    John C Sat Jul 28 2007
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  • This film is very good. Natalie Portman is the best.

    Gabriel Tue Jul 3 2007
    Rated as: 5/5
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