Writer: Milos Forman, Jean-Claude Carriere
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Randy Quaid
Rating: R
Studio: Sony Home Entertainment
Release Date: February 26, 2008
Historical movies are always incredibly interesting to me because I am a huge history buff. While movies like Goya’s Ghosts are not necessarily entirely factual, the chances of similar stories existing in similar situations is quite high. The time of The Inquisition is one of those periods that isn’t delved into too often anymore. When it is, it’s a crap shoot as to whether you are going to end up with a good movie or not. Thankfully, with Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) on the case, you can usually expect something decent. The film is original in the sense that it combines a full period piece with the corruption of religion.
This is not to say that it is free of problems. Most movies have some problems. The problem with Goya’s Ghosts is that there is too much going on. There is more than one central story and while the movie is decent the way it is, it could have been so much better had it concentrated on one theme and left the others as subplots in the background. The result is a good movie that could have been a hell of a lot better if given the chance.
Release Information:
Goya’s Ghosts premiered in Madrid in 2006, long before it made a limited run in U.S. theaters. The film only made under $11 million worldwide during its run. When it comes to critics it has been hit or miss. They either love the artistic quality or have chalked it up to bigotry against the Church and a pile of drivel. I prefer to consider it the first rather than the last, but that’s just me.
Released on February 26, 2008 courtesy of Sony Home Entertainment, Goya’s Ghosts is on one disc with a small selection of special features. You should be able to find this at most major retailers including Amazon where it retails for just under $20.
The Goya’s Ghosts Plot
Goya’s Ghosts is set during the Spanish Inquisition. The movie is meant to follow the highs and lows of Ines (Natalie Portman). Ines is a young woman who was born to a wealthy merchant and his wife. She is looked at by the Church for something that really has nothing to do with her.
Much of the church has a problem with the artwork of Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard). The one exception to this rule is Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem) who has befriended Goya and attempts to defend him to the Church. Unfortunately the Church feels that Goya’s work spits at God and is altogether too aggressive in a religious sense.
Ines comes into play because she is one of Goya’s primary models. Many would even say that she was his muse. She poses in everything from standard portraits to more influential works with religious influences. The Church, being well aware of this fact, decides to make a huge deal out of Ines refusing to eat pork. Rather than taking that fact for what it is worth, they claim this makes her a Jewish sympathizer. This leads to her arrest and a series of painful, torturous interrogations.
Lorenzo may seem helpful, but he is also slimy and creepy in that way that makes you want to look away every time you see him. His mannerisms remind you of a smarmy character out for his own good at any necessary cost. Bardem did a wonderful job in this part, which is the norm for him lately. In fact, his performance allows him to carry enough light to be the central character even though that is not his intended place.
It is both Goya and Ines that are meant to attract the attention. While both Portman and Skarsgard do beautifully in their respective roles, it is the priest rather than the accused or the artist that you want to watch.
Every character is placed in a group, which makes sense for this particular film. There are artists, nobility, harlots, the rich, the poor, and so on. Knowing who is what helps you to understand where they are coming from. In many ways, the personalities of the lesser characters have to do with their station in life and not their true personalities.
At the heart of the story is a look at the hypocrisies of the church and the weakness of confession under duress. Considering the confession under duress storyline, no one does better than Jose Luis Gomez. Gomez plays Ines’ father, a merchant that is distraught over the idea of losing his daughter, unfairly to such nonsense. In order to attempt to protect his daughter, he confronts Lorenzo and forces him to confess to something incredibly outlandish, proving that in a bad situation anyone might confess to anything.
The real problem is that we don’t delve into the true heart of the story. The first act, where the scene is set, is stunning, and then things quickly move to act two. There is no serious, worthwhile middle. There is only a beginning and an end. It moves from one moment to a significant amount of years later. So, we do not see where these people have been, but instead we only see the direct result of their actions from act one.
It is upsetting that it is this way, because there are many good parts of this film, but the massive gap makes it feel almost like two different movies. It becomes a starkly different before and after film that has a huge amount of potential to be so much more.
The second act shows the consequences of the actions from act one. The confession that was given in duress, leads to an older woman lost in a realm of insanity, released years later during the chaos that occurs during a revolution. Oddly enough, Goya becomes more of a liaison between characters than he does a central character.
With these small flaws in mind, it is the visually beautiful qualities of the film that made things better in the end. The colors are used to perfection. The deep colors of the priest frocks make them appear tarnished in some way. The costume designers and the set designers went all out to ensure a beautiful movie.
When it comes to the visual enhancements I have to say that nothing is more stunning and bewildering than Natalie Portman. She goes from being the beautiful daughter of a merchant to a prisoner. She ends up playing far more than these two solitary performances, but too much information would give away more than you need to know without seeing the film.
The second act does not have the same level of spark and interest that the first act has. In the beginning, all of the characters are dynamic and you want to learn more about them. This quickly changes and the once dynamic characters are no longer as interesting as they were originally. You might feel anger, sadness, or pity for them, but you no longer hold the supreme interest in them that you did in the beginning. It is the one downfall of the film, despite a strong visual quality, cast, and amazing first act.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The video quality for Goya’s Ghosts is somewhere in the middle. While the look that Forman appeared to be going for was accomplished in many ways, it falls flat in other areas. The film was transferred in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The aged look to fit the time period works nicely though at times things get a little dull in the color department and somewhat soft in other areas. The scenery has a lot of trouble, especially towards the end. There is more grain and digital issues that appear. While it was decent and watchable, it definitely could have been better.
Meanwhile the 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track was fine, but again it was not phenomenal. The music and sound effects seem to run high and the dialogue is hot and cold running loud and soft at times. I had to play with the volume more than once. That being said I have had worse issues with DVDs in the past. In addition to standard audio the DVD comes with a French track. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, and French.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
Surprisingly enough, there is really only one bonus feature on this disc and I’m not even sure that it’s that worth mentioning. The lone feature lasts for less than three minutes and is a making of type of thing. There are some comments by the actors and the director about the film, but it never ends up being too exciting or worthy enough to call it an actual special feature.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
The DVD package for Goya’s Ghosts leaves much to be desired, but the film is actually worth watching. You won’t find all the bells and whistles like you should on some of the new, decent movies that are coming out, but I found I enjoyed this film nonetheless. Rather than recommending a purchase right of the bat, you should rent this first. You might not find the package worthy of a buy, but the story will definitely be worth a rental.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Movie, Goyas Ghost, Sony Home Entertainment, Spanish Inquisition, DVD Review
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Written by Ashtyn - Visit Website
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