Goya's Ghosts

The historical epic is probably more challenging for a director than any other genre. Whilst evidently hugely expensive to mount, the hardest part is getting the balance right between the large scale events and the personal drama to which they form a backdrop. Milos Forman clearly loves the costume drama. He kicked goals with Amadeus (1984) but dropped the ball with his follow-up film, Valmont (1989). Goya’s Ghosts has surely got to be the end of the line for this progression unless he is a) a confirmed masochist and b) has very indulgent backers.

The film deals the waning years of the Spanish Inquisition as seen through the eyes of  Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgård). It covers a lot of territory as Spain is “liberated” by Napoleon then restored to monarchy by the British. These changing fortunes are embodied in the story of Goya, Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem) and the beautiful young Ines Bilbatua (Natalie Portman) whose spell they fall under.  

A gorgeous production, it does not manage to realize its lofty ambitions. It starts well, featuring Goya’s famous Los Caprichos engravings as representations of contemporary 17th century Spain.  Had Forman focussed on the artist as he did with Amadeus this could have been an interesting film (a lovely passage shows Goya making an engraving) but instead he embroils himself with the Victor Hugo-esque tale of Brother Lorenzo. Frankly, it is a story that doesn’t convince and Bardem’s attempts at investing his character with sadistic gravitas come off as more mannered over-acting than anything else. At least Bardem is Spanish however. As with his other two films mentioned, Forman goes for some odd casting. If Skarsgård seems an unnecessary choice for Goya, Natalie Portman as the Spanish maiden and Randy Quaid (!!) as King Carlos IV are simply out of place. Forman got away with this kind of miscegenation in Amadeus but it doesn’t work here, only serving to further distance the film from a much-needed sense of authenticity..

More importantly, the script by Forman with veteran Jean-Claude Carrière doesn’t make sense of the character of Lorenzo. We (and probably Bardem) simply don’t know what motivates him and the second half of the film (15 years is lamely bridged by an intertitle) seems to abandon him altogether as a psychological studyas the story spins out of control. Is he a committed revolutionary and family man or a self-serving monster?. Who knows? Goya doesn't particularly seem to care so why should we?  For all that it lacks dramatically Goya’s Ghosts is well-made enough that one can watch it purely as spectacle and only after it has finished regret having so little to show for the time.

Available from: Umbrella Entertainment

 

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