Review of Goya's Ghosts

This is not an autobiographical movie. It doesn't tell about Francisco Goya and his growth as a great painter, nor does it tell us about his private life. This is more about the tragic epoch, a highly volatile era during which he had to live. In fact, Goya himself occupies hardly half of the film's time. But then, the title explains it all – Goya's Ghosts – it is about his characters, the people of Spain that he depicted in his works. Monks, soldiers, laypeople, generals, French, Spanish, and British – they all are before our eyes, with their lives, tragedies and joys. In fact, Lorenzo, an apostate Catholic monk, is a real hero of the film by Milos Forman. His ruthless inquisition methods, his love affairs, his apostasy and turn to Napoleon's regime, his tragic death on the scaffold show us a real life story of a man in the tragic times of the early 19 Century. Then, there is a beautiful girl, performed by ever impeccable Natalie Portman, whose life and mind are ruined by merciless tortures in the inquisition chambers. She comes back to life as a wretched, ruined, lost soul and searches constantly for her daughter who in fact became a prostitute. She is only happy when she finds lost baby and takes it for her own. The whole long film leaves a heavy heart but a lasting impression. This is a very decent and full-scale work of art.