Milos Forman, who directed One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest,
Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus, tackles the dark period in Spain when the last throes of
the Spanish Inquisition fought the “modernist” ideas of the French Revolution
and such dangerous humanist thinkers as Rousseau and Voltaire.
The film opens with the Inquisition considering the prints
of the king’s painter, Francesco Goya. Decried for his “filthy” view of the world,
Fr. Lorenzo (Javier Bardem) volunteers to take charge of making the Inquistion more diligent
in eradicating the world Goya has depicted. Covert spying begins and any
unusual conduct is reported. People are accused of crimes and locked up with
little or no proof. (Sound familiar today? That's one of Forman's points.)
Natalie Portman plays three characters in the film. The first,
Inés,
is seen sitting for her portrait with Goya (Stellan Skarsgård).The innocent daughter of a rich
merchant , she is later seen refusing pork in
a tavern and is accused of being a practicing Jew. She is locked up, tortured (“being
put to the question”—raising one’s arms behind one’s back and raised off the
ground), and confesses.
Goya, who is painting Lorenzo’s portrait, is asked to help
by Inés’
father. When Goya brings Lorenzo to dine, the father declares that anyone would
confess anything to escape the pain being put to the question. When Lorenzo
disagrees, the father has him tied up and "put to the question." He signs a
confession the father had written saying he was born a monkey.
Lorenzo agrees to help Inés but when he goes to the jail
where she is held, he ends up raping her. When the merchant brings Lorenzo’s
confession to the king, Lorenzo flees to France and he is excommunicated, with
his portrait being publically burned.
Jumping 15 years, the balance of power has shifted and the
French control Spain. The Inquisition ends and all the prisoners are freed. Inés
has languished in prison and is barely recognizable. She claims that she and
Lorenzo had a child. Lorenzo returns successfully from France—no longer a
priest, but now the chief administrator of the region, with wife, children, and little guilt.
The rest of the film deals with Inés trying to find her daughter,
Lorenzo struggling to maintain power and the political upheaval brought by the
British who invade Spain.
The script examines the morality (and immorality) of
state-sponsored use of torture. It also questions the role of art and the
artist. When viewing a painting of the Spanish queen, for example, one character says, “I don’t remember
her being so ugly. How did she get all those lovers?” And earlier, when the queen sees another portrait of herself, she leaves without a word to Goya. What Goya seems to have ignored is her earlier telling that if nothing more, she wants him to paint her "beautiful." Perhaps that’s what the film is
saying about film. Should we show the inhumanity to man that really existed or
create a pretty costume piece?
One of the fascinating sequences of the film is seeing the
steps Goya actually went through to create his etchings. While Goya is really only the
adverb in the title, not the main noun, we do get a good idea of the man as
artist, standing on the peripheral watching and recording events.
Seeing the range of Goya's art during the final credits is silent testament to the power of the artist.
While the film lacks the emotional impact of a work like Amadeus, it is
a well-told study of Goya and his time period.
Goya's Ghosts (2006) **** (DVD)
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