Goya's Ghosts
Portman gives a strong performance in the film
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Tuesday, 08, May 2007 01:57
Directed by Milos Forman, out now in selected cinemas, starring Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgard, running time 114 minutes.
In a nutshell.
Bloody and anti-Catholic historical drama.
What's it all about?
Francisco Goya (Skarsgard), famed as one of the greatest painters in Spain, is working in an extremely tense and violent political climate. His country is being subjected to the Spanish Inquisition while radical French Revolutionary ideas are never far away. He faithfully depicts the suffering he witnesses around him in his horrific prints. Father Lorenzo (Bardem) is an esteemed member of the Holy Office at the centre of the Inquisition. Ines (Portman) is the daughter of a wealthy merchant and one of Goya's models.
When she is spotted deliberately avoiding pork at dinner, she is arrested by the Holy Office and 'put to the question' (tortured) in order to ascertain whether she has been a heretic by practising the Jewish faith of her ancestors. Ines is imprisoned indefinitely in the dungeons, where Lorenzo takes advantage of her distressed and vulnerable state to have sex with her on several occasions.
After himself being duped into signing a ridiculous confession by Ines's father, Lorenzo flees to France, where he throws of his Catholic shackles and becomes an ardent proponent of the spirit of the French Revolution. Conveniently for him, the Napoleonic invasion of Spain allows him to regain his power in his own country. Meanwhile, with the Inquisition over, Ines emerges from captivity as a wretched, deranged woman. Her entire family killed, she seeks the help of Goya (now deaf) to trace the daughter she conceived in prison with Lorenzo. The daughter Alicia, now working as a prostitute, is discovered by Goya, to the immense discomfort of Lorenzo.
Who's in it?
All of the lead actors give stellar performances. Bardem is electrifying as the lascivious Lorenzo who is at once charming and polite as well as cunningly anxious to protect his own selfish interests.
Skarsgard's honest face provides the perfect canvas on which to draw his perplexity and bewilderment at the ensuing confusion surrounding him.
However, the real star of this film has to be Portman, who is virtually unrecognizable after her liberation. In her irregular casting as Ines, she is heart-breakingly earnest in her simple desire to mother while her deformed face and body are as broken as the country she inhabits.
As an example
"Tell me what the truth is!" - Ines, on being urged to confess when put to the question.
"Her face is engraved in my mind.I'm not going to abandon her again."- Goya to Lorenzo, on his determination to track down Alicia.
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Two-time Oscar winning director Milos Forman may be nominated again in this category, but the more likely candidate would be Portman. She has never before won an Oscar, but the Hollywood staple has finally showcased her talents in a demanding role and her visual transformation alone is likely to make an impression, as did Charlize Theron's in Monster. However the film overall is too complicated and too far removed to sweep the board.
What the others say
"Any film that sets its vision of Spain in the era of Inquisition and Napoleon against Goya's needs to have something pretty special to offer; this one doesn't." - Independent.
"Classy cinematography and powerful performances by all." - The Sun.
So is it any good?
Despite the fine performances, Goya's Ghosts is far less character-driven than Forman's previous acclaimed films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus. Perhaps because this film is too ambitious, both in terms of content and the time period that it sweeps across, it ends up being confused and superficial. The whole film contains a profound lack of subtlety which proves to be an immense handicap for a story of this nature. The people lurking in the dungeons and the hospitals are not real but are grotesque caricatures. Similarly the violence is sporadic, relentless and at times gratuitous.
Some thought-provoking questions are raised, such as is any person capable of resisting confessing to a crime they did not commit in the face of immense pain? Also, does one sell one's soul by aligning with whatever political faction is in power rather than remaining constant and does an artist really have the license to remain a calmly detached observer, the friend of all and the enemy of none? However, no question is ever truly explored but rather mentioned fleetingly, leaving the viewer unsatisfied.
The crucial nail in the coffin of this film, however, is the ridiculous decision to cast Portman as two different characters. She plays both Ines and her daughter Alicia. And although we are invited to believe that the striking facial resemblance prompts the artist to dedicate himself to saving this woman, it just does not work and reduces the entire film to levels of incredulity. With their patience, depth and delicacy, Forman's previous two Oscar-winning films were difficult to forget. Goya's Ghosts, unfortunately, is not.
6/10
Natasha Hegde