Dir: Milos Forman, 2006
Men are evil creatures — be they Spanish monks, invading French hedonists or Spanish-monks-turned-invading-French-hedonists. In this film, famed Spanish painter Francisco Goya (played by Stellan Skarsgaard, but I don't know why) tries to help a wealthy merchant save his daughter, and Goya's muse, Ines (Natalie Portman - brava!) from the clutches of the Spanish Inquisition. Goya enlists the help of shady Inquisitor Lorenzo (Javier Barden, with magnificence). Too bad the good monk's overtaken by the most fun of the Seven Deadly Sins upon seeing a naked, cowering Ines and doesn't quite keep his word. We're then transported fifteen years into the future to see what becomes of Goya, Ines and Lorenzo, along with Spain herself.
Natalie Portman is phenomenal in this movie. She plays Ines with such doe-eyed innocence, sweetness, vulnerability and raw emotion, she might as well be Bambi in human form. She is captivating every moment, radiant even when made up to look wretched. One of the best scenes in the film is one in which Ines is asked why she refused to eat pork at a tavern several nights before, the gesture that sent up alarm bells that she might be a secret "Judaiser." With childlike transparency, she states she doesn't like it. (Being vegetarian was probably also a no-no during the Spanish Inquisition.)
Javier Bardem is excellent, too. He isn't afraid to play Lorenzo as a sociopath — devious, self-serving, lacking in empathy. Cunning and ruthless, hatable but impossible to take your eyes off of.
Despite being set in the Spain of nearly two centuries ago, Goya's Ghosts deals with some very contemporary themes (read: the war in Iraq). Lorenzo defends the validity of confessions garnered under the Inquisition's "Question," a form of torture depicted in the film, when Ines' father argues (and later proves) that a person will say whatever will get the torture to stop. Later in the film, there's this stunning quote from an about-faced Lorenzo, as he champions forcing French democracy on Spain: "There will be no liberty for the enemies of liberty." In this, he's more of a missionary than an inquistor, seeing as how "my way or the highway to hell" is a frequent motto of liberators peddling both new religion and new government. Lorenzo represents the worst parts and people of our country's recent history, as many people, including writer-director Forman, see it.
This movie has a lot of beauty in it, despite the ugliness of what it deals with. There are even shots of artistic masterpieces found in the Prado today. And, of course, lots of masterworks by Goya (who, by the way, I love). The script isn't that great and there are a number of drawn-out scenes in which Goya is painting that do not add any depth to the movie or the character. And Stellan Skarsgard was miscast, as he doesn't command the screen or the audience very well as the title character. But, the movie's enjoyable and at times even surprising.
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