Goya's Ghosts

Goya's Ghosts
Promotional poster for Goya's Ghosts.
Directed by	Miloš Forman
Written by	Jean-Claude Carrière Miloš Forman
Starring	Natalie Portman Javier Bardem Stellan Skarsgård Randy Quaid Unax Ugalde
Cinematography	Javier Aguirresarobe
Edited by	Adam Boome
Music by	Varhan Orchestrovič Bauer José Nieto
Production companies	The Saul Zaentz Co. Xuxa Producciones (Spain)
Distributed by	Kanzaman S.A.l (Spain)
Release date	November 8, 2006
Running time	114 minutes
Countries	Spain United States
Language	English

Goya's Ghosts is a 2006 Spanish/American film directed by Miloš Forman, and produced by Xuxa Producciones (Spain) and by Saul Zaentz, and written by Miloš Forman and Jean-Claude Carrière. The film stars Natalie Portman, Javier Bardem, and Stellan Skarsgård, and was shot on location in Spain during late 2005. The film was written, produced, and performed in English although it is a Spanish production.

Although the historical setting of the movie is authentic, the story itself is fictional. Director Forman stated, "There was no film ever made about this particular [historical] period." He may be referring to the invasion of Spain specifically, as there are certainly other films about the Peninsular War (e.g. The Pride and the Passion).

Plot

In 1792, Spain reels amidst the turmoil and upheaval of the French Revolution. Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) is a renowned painter, who, among others, does portraits for the royal family as the Official Court Painter to the King and Queen.

The Spanish Inquisition is disturbed by part of Goya's work. Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem) is hiring Goya to paint a portrait and defends him, saying that his works are not evil, they just show evil. He recommends the Church step up the fight against anti-Roman Catholic practices. He requests and is put in charge of intensifying the Inquisition.

When posing in Goya's studio, Lorenzo asks Goya about a young model he uses, Inés (Natalie Portman), daughter of a rich merchant, Tomás Bilbatúa (José Luis Gómez). Inés is spotted by Inquisition spies (trained by Lorenzo) declining a dish of pork in a tavern. The Holy Office of the Inquisition orders Inés to come to the Office. There she is arrested and accused of "judaizing", i.e. spreading Jewish rituals, because she did not eat pork the other evening. She is stripped naked and tortured by strappado ("put to The Question"), confesses, and is imprisoned.

Tomás begs Goya for help, who in turn asks Lorenzo to find out about Inés' situation. Lorenzo visits Inés in prison telling her that he is about to help her. He offers to pray with her but instead seduces her. At a dinner in Tomás' home, where he and Goya are guests, Lorenzo defends "The Question": he argues that if the accused is really innocent, God will give him or her the strength to deny guilt, so a person who confesses must be guilty. Tomás does not agree: he argues that people will confess to anything under physical torture, and Goya agrees. To prove this Tomas draws up a statement which says that Lorenzo confesses to being a monkey, and, with the help of his sons, does not let Lorenzo leave unless he agrees to sign it. Goya pleads for Lorenzo without success; Goya is allowed to leave and does. They torture Lorenzo and he signs. Tomás promises to destroy the document after Inés is released. He gives Lorenzo a large amount of gold for the Church, hoping it will persuade the Holy Office to consider leniency.

Lorenzo pleads for Inés, but the Inquisitor General Father Gregorio, while accepting the money, refuses, since Inés has confessed. Lorenzo again visits Ines in prison and, offering to pray with her, seduces her again. Tomás brings the document to the king, Carlos IV (Randy Quaid). Lorenzo is now an embarrassment to the Spanish Church and is banished. He flees. Lorenzo's portrait is confiscated by the Church, and is set on fire in public.

Fifteen years pass, and Goya is at the height of his creativity, but he has become deaf. The French army under Napoleon invades Spain, abolishes the Inquisition and sets the prisoners free. Lorenzo becomes Napoleon's chief prosecutor against his former Spanish allies. (This twist in Lorenzo's allegiance might have been inspired by the career of Juan Antonio Llorente.) Inés, who was said to be tried, has actually been left to perish in the dungeons until now. She has given birth to a daughter in prison, and, upon visiting her old home and finding her family dead, turns to Goya for help in finding her child, who was taken away from her immediately after birth. Lorenzo is the father, which is embarrassing for him, and he sends Inés, whose mental sanity has suffered in prison, to an asylum. Lorenzo searches for their daughter in an orphanage, and he learns from the nuns her name is Alicia. She had run away from the orphanage a few years ago.

In Garden Park, Goya finds a prostitute named Alicia (also played by Natalie Portman) who looks identical to Inés. He goes to Lorenzo asking for Inés so he can reunite her with her daughter. Lorenzo goes to see Alicia, asking her to leave Spain for America, but she refuses the offer. Goya finds Inés, and bribes the manager of an asylum to release her. Lorenzo arrests a group of prostitutes in an inn, including Alicia, to deport them to America. Later, Inés finds an abandoned baby left by one of the prostitutes and in her delusion believes the baby to be her own lost daughter.

The British conquer the French troops. Lorenzo is arrested as he is fleeing. The Spanish reinstate the Inquisition, which sentences Lorenzo to death. Church officials are willing to pardon him if he repents, and they urge Lorenzo to do so until the last moment at the site of the execution in the city center. At the site of the execution Lorenzo spots his daughter Alicia, on the arm of a British officer, scoffing at him. He also notices Goya sitting at a distance sketching the entire ordeal. Inés is also present in the crowd and calls to Lorenzo enthusiastically to show him the baby she believes is their daughter. Refusing to repent, Lorenzo is garrotted. The film ends with a cart taking Lorenzo's body away, escorted by Inés, holding the hand of the dead Lorenzo, children prancing about singing songs, and with Goya following closely behind her.

Cast

• Natalie Portman as Inés/Alicia
• Javier Bardem as Lorenzo
• Stellan Skarsgård as Francisco Goya
• Randy Quaid as King Carlos IV
• Unax Ugalde as Ángel Bilbatúa
• Michael Lonsdale as Father Gregorio
• Julian Wadham as Joseph Bonaparte

Critical reception

Goya's Ghosts received poor reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 29% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 82 reviews — with the consensus that "ornate costumes and a talented cast can't make up for Ghosts' glacial pace and confused plot." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 52 out of 100, based on 25 reviews — indicating average reviews.

Box office performance

The film has grossed $2,198,929 in Spain and $1,199,024 in Italy. In the United States, Goya's Ghosts has grossed $1,000,626, with a worldwide total $9,448,082.

External links

• Official website Template:Es
• Hanway Films webpage
• Goya's Ghosts at IMDb
• Goya's Ghosts at AllMovie
• Goya's Ghosts at Rotten Tomatoes
• Goya's Ghosts at Metacritic
• Goya's Ghosts at Box Office Mojo
• "Liberty, Equality and Torture," in Willamette Week By N.P. Thompson
• Photos at natalieportman.com