Goya's Ghosts

It seems that I have been waiting a long time to see Goya's Ghosts. I first heard about the film sometime in 2005. And I remember when they were filming it in Madrid. The subject matter was of great interest to me. It was being directed by Milos Forman and the screenplay was co-written by Forman and Jean Claude Carriere. And it starred Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgard. What could be better?

But the film had trouble finding a US distributor. In the meantime, it was released around Europe to dismal reviews. Earlier this year the film was picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films and it has just been released here to the same type of reviews. But guess what? I saw the film today and I really liked it a lot.

The first part of the film takes place in 1792. The Inquisition is being reinstated. It is spearheaded by a fanatic monk named Lorenzo (Bardem). Lorenzo talks out of both sides of his mouth. He is having his portrait painted by the well known artist Francisco Goya (Skarsgard) but when he sees that the Church doesn't approve of Goya's work he makes the suggestion that Spain goes back to its old repressive ways.

A young woman named Ines (Portman), who is one of Goya's models, is accused of heresy because she doesn't want to eat pork. She is tortured into a false confession and left in the dungeons to rot. Goya asks for Lorenzo's help and Lorenzo visits her. Lorenzo and Ines pray together but he also rapes her. And Lorenzo is invited to the home of Ines' parents. He is put to the "question" by Ines' father Tomas (Jose Luis Gomez) and fails. He is eventually driven out of Spain.

We fast forward to fifteen years later. There is chaos on the streets of Madrid. The French Revolution has "liberated" Spain and the Inquisition is null and void. Ines is let out prison and the only one she has left is Goya (who is now deaf). She had a child while in prison and wants to find her. Lorenzo returns to Spain with his wife and children. He is now a proponent of the French Revolution and condemns the Church. And that is all of the plot I will tell you.

Goya's Ghosts is a fascinating film. It contains many themes that still resonate today. Torture,
a foreign army occupying a country and hypocrisy (in the name of religion or a cause) to name a few. It is a film of ideas. I did not take my eyes off of the screen for a minute. I only wished that Goya's Ghosts were a mini series because there would be more time to explore all of these complex ideas.

All of the acting is top notch. Bardem is brilliant as a man who completely transforms himself. I read some bad reviews of his acting in the Spanish press. I honestly don't know what they are talking about. I was wondering if Portman would be able to pull off here triple role as the young and old Ines as well as her daughter Alicia. She does. She also got some bad reviews and, again,
I don't understand it. Skarsgard is fine as Goya, a man of reason. Other actors who are good are Randy Quaid as the King, Jose Luis Gomez as Ines' father and Michael Lonsdale as Father Gregorio. The cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe is spectacular as is the production design by Patricia von Brandenstein and the costumes by Yvonne Blake.

Milos Forman has created a wonderful and important film that many people will not see because of the reviews. It is hard to fathom all of this when so many awful films don't get bashed in this way. I never post links to critics on my blog but I wanted to post this review by Roger Ebert. He liked the film but he also makes an interesting observation about critics. Here is the link:

http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/goya-lorenzo-inquisition-1776187-film-portrait

I didn't have much faith in film critics in the first place. But after this I have even less.

And one last thing - this past week I read a piece about Penelope Cruz. In it she was quoted as saying that Bardem is the best actor in the world. I will drink to that!