"Goya - oder Der arge Weg der Erkenntnis" or "Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment" or just "Goya" is an East German movie from the 1970s. This one has its 45th anniversary this year. It was directed by Konrad Wolf and he is also the one who adapted Lion Feuchtwanger's novel for the screen here. The writer did not live to see this film, but I am not sure he would have liked it anyway. I personally found it fairly forgettable and style over substance for the most part. I read that Donatas Banionis, the lead actor, was cast over other actors because he was fairly famous back then, but I cannot say he impressed me in here. This may be part his fault, part fault of the script. The only thing somewhat decent to watch in here were sets and costumes. Story-wise I found it mostly forgettable. It is not a complete failure by any means but what you get is not really worth what you invest. The film easily makes it beyond the 120-minute mark and I felt so many mediocre scenes and developments could have been cut, so this film may have run for 90 minutes only. It really needed to be more essential and better focus. I personally found it boring and that is why I give it a thumbs down. Not recommended. Sadly, the GDR really was not a place for great films, at least judging from what I have seen so far.
