Boasting some colourful, sumptuous set and costume work and amazing cinematography, "Goya's Ghosts" is unfortunately something of a missed opportunity.
It sees the famous Spanish painter Francesco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) involved in the machinations of the Spanish Inquisition, when they wrongly imprison and torture Inez (Natalie Portman), a muse of his, for being a heretic. At the forefront of this is a duplicitous monk, Lorenzo (Javier Bardem), who complicates matters considerably when he becomes attracted to Inez...
The film covers a period of fifteen years, but the first half of the movie is more interesting as it tackles the issues raised by the reality of the Spanish Inquisition in a far more interesting way. The second half of the movie, after the fifteen-year interval, is a mish-mash of lousy ageing makeup, coincidence, and an ending that says and means absolutely nothing.
The key scene in the movie is a dinner scene with Goya and Lorenzo hosted by Inez's father Tomas (Jose Luiz Gomez), and Lorenzo is, quite literally, 'put to the question' himself. As Goya, Skarsgard doesn't really have much to do but gives a very interesting and eccentric performance nevertheless. Portman isn't too bad in the first half of the movie, but loses it when she's required to don make-up and play two roles later on.
Worth looking at for it's visuals and brief commentary on the nature of torture, but given it could have gone into more depth on the latter it stands as a missed opportunity.
It sees the famous Spanish painter Francesco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) involved in the machinations of the Spanish Inquisition, when they wrongly imprison and torture Inez (Natalie Portman), a muse of his, for being a heretic. At the forefront of this is a duplicitous monk, Lorenzo (Javier Bardem), who complicates matters considerably when he becomes attracted to Inez...
The film covers a period of fifteen years, but the first half of the movie is more interesting as it tackles the issues raised by the reality of the Spanish Inquisition in a far more interesting way. The second half of the movie, after the fifteen-year interval, is a mish-mash of lousy ageing makeup, coincidence, and an ending that says and means absolutely nothing.
The key scene in the movie is a dinner scene with Goya and Lorenzo hosted by Inez's father Tomas (Jose Luiz Gomez), and Lorenzo is, quite literally, 'put to the question' himself. As Goya, Skarsgard doesn't really have much to do but gives a very interesting and eccentric performance nevertheless. Portman isn't too bad in the first half of the movie, but loses it when she's required to don make-up and play two roles later on.
Worth looking at for it's visuals and brief commentary on the nature of torture, but given it could have gone into more depth on the latter it stands as a missed opportunity.