Goya's Ghosts, directed by Academy Award winner Milo Forman. (Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) A lot of the critics panned this film, but I actually quite enjoyed it. It wasn't quite as engaging as Amadeus, but Forman really captured the aura of the period.
Natalie Portman's acting was also attacked by certain critics, ( she plays two characters here) and yet... I actually found her to be quite moving, especially as the imprisoned Inés who is accused of heresy against the Church. That scene of her after she is released from the inquisition prison, wow.
Stellan Skarsgård portrays the famous painter Francisco Goya & Javier Bardem plays Brother Lorenzo, an at the very least duplicitous monk.
Bardem chews up so much of the scenery here and I had no other feelings towards his character than of hatred. I see him as nothing more than a psychopathic, masochist, opportunist. This is a man who in the course of the film changes allegiances with the wind. In one of the movies most pivotal scenes, Brother Lorenzo visits Inés, tells her that he is about to help her, asks for her to pray with him and then proceeds to rape her.
Later on, Lorenzo reports to Inés family and defends "The Question"( torture) arguing that if the accused is really innocent, God will give them the strength to deny any guilt, so a person who confesses must be guilty. But, Inés family disagrees, arguing that a person will confess to anything under physical torture. To prove this, they draw up a statement which says that Brother Lorenzo confesses to being a monkey. In the end, Lorenzo is tortured and signs. So much for God's strength.
Natalie Portman's acting was also attacked by certain critics, ( she plays two characters here) and yet... I actually found her to be quite moving, especially as the imprisoned Inés who is accused of heresy against the Church. That scene of her after she is released from the inquisition prison, wow.
Stellan Skarsgård portrays the famous painter Francisco Goya & Javier Bardem plays Brother Lorenzo, an at the very least duplicitous monk.
Bardem chews up so much of the scenery here and I had no other feelings towards his character than of hatred. I see him as nothing more than a psychopathic, masochist, opportunist. This is a man who in the course of the film changes allegiances with the wind. In one of the movies most pivotal scenes, Brother Lorenzo visits Inés, tells her that he is about to help her, asks for her to pray with him and then proceeds to rape her.
Later on, Lorenzo reports to Inés family and defends "The Question"( torture) arguing that if the accused is really innocent, God will give them the strength to deny any guilt, so a person who confesses must be guilty. But, Inés family disagrees, arguing that a person will confess to anything under physical torture. To prove this, they draw up a statement which says that Brother Lorenzo confesses to being a monkey. In the end, Lorenzo is tortured and signs. So much for God's strength.