Goya's Ghosts
by Milos Forman
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DVD details
Actor: Blanca Portillo, Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Randy Quaid, Stellan Skarsg?rdDirector: Milos Forman
Brand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-26
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of Goya's Ghosts
DVD Review: MILOS FORMAN, OPUS 12
Summary: 4 Stars
**** 2006. Written and directed by Milos Forman. The 1792-1812 period in Spain seen through the eyes of painter Francisco Goya. Don't expect here a biography of Goya, Milos Forman is only trying to demonstrate that the role of the artist can be but passive in history. In this perspective, GOYA'S GHOSTS is a very pessimistic film because we never have the feeling that Goya's interventions in order to save In?s may help the young woman. The production is gorgeous and the actors top-notch. Highly recommended. DVD Review: Hints of greatness, which ultimately disappoint
Summary: 3 Stars
SPOILER WARNING (Do not read the last paragraph if you have not seen this movie or do not want to know what happens)
Goya's Ghosts came highly recommended to me, and given Javier's fabulous performance in No Country For Old Men, I was sold. I bought it and eagerly popped it in. Unfortunately, I just couldn't buy the hype. Bardem is great, of course. This is just the type of devious role that he really breathes life into. Nearly every other actor, however, brings the film down. Natalie Portman, to start, is kind of a mixed bag. She plays a rather unremarkable young woman, who of course is Goya's heaven-sent muse. After being locked in a dungeon for years, she goes a little crazy and pasty, and this brings her overall performance in the film to a solid B as she imitates a broken jaw and a handful of psychoses. Then, she plays the DAUGHTER of her character, while they both are still alive, and goes back to plain old bland. I do wonder, however, if she has some kind of fetish for playing weird roles where they deform her (queen Amidala, V for Vendetta, perhaps others I can't remember...)
Also Randy Quaid plays the King of Spain. He has a wonderful air of regality. No, not really. This is the guy who played the dad in Independence Day and Cousin Ed in the National Lampoon Vacation movies. He hasn't got a regal bone in his body, and he's nearly the WORST actor I could think of for a dramatic role (except for maybe... Natalie Portman?)
Aside from this, the movie is just a little too wide in scope to be seen as an insular, complete story. It covers about 30 years and three generations in two hours, and kind of leaves each epoch a mess, with little or no sense of resolution. At the end of the film, Bardem's character is killed by the church for his rebellion and carted off through the streets of Spain while kids chase it, and a song that means roughly "oh, what a bad world, where a man hurts so bad he wants to kill himself" in Spanish plays. At that point, you realize that all the other stuff was just window-dressing and pretension of drama, while it was really an Inquisition-era No Country For Old Men, a film to give Javier Bardem a role that steals the show with little other reason for watching. The only other plus of this movie, beyond his acting, is the beautiful Spanish scenery and location design which simply cannot be beaten. Too bad, then, that most of the cast is less interesting than the backdrop.
DVD Review: Compellingly unhappy.
Summary: 5 Stars
Goya's Ghosts is the kind of film that I usually find depressing. I did not actually find this uplifting, but the movie itself makes a number of excellent points without being heavy handed. The Spanish Inquisition is portrayed here in all its horrific idiocy, but this is more than a cautionary "Don't let this happen again" tale. It is also less a biography or true history. It instead weaves a tapestry of images that give a feeling of Spain in the late 1700's. There are many moving moments contained here and not many are joyful. There are some images and sequences that are not for the faint hearted. Natalie Portman is very good throughout, though not always as convincing visually near the end. Stellan Skarsgard is marvelous throughout. I must say that I did enjoy this movie, but it is not happy. The end scene is very sad and yet a perfect conclusion to this story. I recommend it, but again remind you this is not a "date" film. Unless you are on a very strange date.DVD Review: Captivating tale
Summary: 5 Stars
Centered on the horrid Spanish Inquisition, this story explores the sins of those in power, committed in the name of God. An arrogant priest, Lorenzo played by the talented Javier Bardem, believes torture is the key to bringing society closer to morality. Lorenzo's artist friend, Goya, begs for the priest's help when one of his young models, Inez, is falsely accused and imprisoned for heresy. Lorenzo is not only unable to free the young girl, but impregnates her while she's confined in her cell. Inez is tortured until she confesses to a sin she is not guilty of. When Lorenzo gets put to the 'torture test' himself by the young girl's father, and fails, he must leave town. When Lorenzo returns he causes even more trouble for Inez. This is an intense drama that gives us a small glimpse into a tumultous time in history. Superb acting!
Chrissy K. McVay - Author
DVD Review: Too depressing and upsetting to watch again
Summary: 3 Stars
The film is more about the horrors of the Catholic Church and the evil and insanity perpetuated by the Inquisition than it is about Goya himself. Imagine, being tortured because one refused to eat pork which supposedly meant that one was a secret Jew. Did the church really do this to people based on such common and trivial incidents? Also, so what if one was a Jew?! Didn't the populace or the supposedly intellegentsia of the day have any common sense back then? If this is a factual true story, then it requires its factual ending, as terrible as it is. But if it's all made-up, pure fantasy, then I feel that horrors were suffered for nothing. If anyone cares, I'm a non-practicing Catholic. I'm proud that the church financed great art and beautiful architecture but am truly ashamed of other aspects of its history.
Description of Goya's Ghosts
Academy Award? nominees Natalie Portman and Javier Bardem star in two-time Academy Award? winning director Milos Forman s thrilling new romantic drama! Goya s Ghosts is a sweeping historical epic told through the eyes of celebrated Spanish painter Francisco Goya (Skarsgard). Set against the backdrop of political turmoil at the end of the Spanish Inquisition and start of the invasion of Spain by Napoleon s army the film captures the essence and beauty of Goya s work which is best known for both the colorful depictions of the royal court and its people and his grim depictions of the brutality of war and life in 18th century Spain. When Goya s beautiful muse (Portman) is accused of being a heretic renowned painter Francisco Goya (Skarsgard) must convince his old friend Lorenzo (Bardem) a power-hungry monk and leader of the Spanish Inquisition to spare her life.System Requirements:Run Time: 114 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?DRAMA/MILITARY & WAR Rating:?R UPC:?043396198104 Manufacturer No:?19810Even Milos Forman's most ardent supporters are sure to have mixed feelings about Goya's Ghosts. As expected from the Oscar-winning director of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the production values are strong and the performances solid. Unfortunately, his fictional take on the life of subversive painter Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsg?rd), circa the Spanish Inquisition, feels undercooked compared to previous issue-driven works, like The People vs. Larry Flynt. As in that film, censorship and hypocrisy take center stage. Co-written by Luis Bu?uel scenarist Jean-Claude Carri?re (That Obscure Object of Desire), Goya's Ghosts concerns the painter's relationships with two subjects, Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem) and artist's model Ines (Natalie Portman). When Ines is suspected of practicing Judaism, she's tortured until she confesses, leading to her incarceration. With Goya's assistance, her family enlists Lorenzo to fight for her freedom, but to no avail. For his own transgressions, Lorenzo flees the country, while Ines lingers in prison. The story then skips ahead 15 years. Goya has since lost his hearing, Ines remains imprisoned, and a defrocked Lorenzo is living a life of leisure in France. After Napoleon invades Spain, the three are once again thrown into each other's orbit. Of the trio, Goya emerges as decency incarnate, Ines as a victim of religious fundamentalism, and Lorenzo as a man who found his conscience far too late to save anyone--least of all himself. The humor that bouyed Amadeus might not have been appropriate in this case, but Goya's Ghosts is a real downer. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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