Goya's Ghosts (2006)

30% of critics liked it
(86 reviews)
58% of users liked it
(40,717 ratings)

The lives of a great artist, a corrupted holy man, and a beautiful woman cross paths at a crucial moment in history in this epic-scale historical drama from director Milos Forman. Near the end of the 18th century, Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) is a gifted but controversial artist whose… More The lives of a great artist, a corrupted holy man, and a beautiful woman cross paths at a crucial moment in history in this epic-scale historical drama from director Milos Forman. Near the end of the 18th century, Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) is a gifted but controversial artist whose provocative and often satirical work has earned the enmity of the Spanish government as well as the Catholic Church, who hold tremendous power as the Inquisition rages. Surprisingly, Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem), a monk involved in the Inquisition, has hired Goya to paint a portrait of himself, and to prove to the Inquisitor General (Michel Lonsdale) he's not in cahoots with the renegade artist, Lorenzo targets Inés (Natalie Portman), one of Goya's favorite models, as a possible heretic. Under torture from Lorenzo, Inés signs a false confession, and her wealthy and powerful father, Tomás Bilbatúa (José Luis Gómez), offers Lorenzo a taste of his own medicine by brow-beating him into signing a document confessing that his mother was an ape. Lorenzo flees Spain as his reputation lies in tatters, and Goya earns greater infamy as he paints a wildly unflattering portrait of Queen María Luisa (Blanca Portillo) under commission from her husband, King Carlos IV (Randy Quaid), but Inés remains in prison thanks to her coerced confession. Fifteen years later, Lorenzo has become a follower of the Enlightenment, and returns to Spain as Napoleon's forces storm the nation and the Inquisition finally collapses; Lorenzo attempts to liberate Inés from prison, but a shocking discovery awaits him. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 54 min.
Directed By: Milos Forman
Written By: Milos Forman, Jean-Claude Carriere
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Jul 20, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Feb 26, 2008
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Think of it as an Amadeus that doesn't work.
Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic
It's a richly seen and felt movie, but not one with a feel-good message.
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
A modern sensibility afflicts much of the screenplay, with characters expressing thoughts and opinions for our ears rather than acting as people of that era.
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle
A punishing misfire.
Tom Long, Detroit News
Misery, misery, misery.
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
While there are probably computer-generated backgrounds and armies on screen, the movie still has the feel of an old-fashioned epic.
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Intense historical epic is for adults only.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Cumbersome and often stilted, Goya's Ghosts remains a worthy drama
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
Portman is disappeared, stripped, chained and tortured, raped repeatedly in the Church dungeon and impregnated by the creepy cleric as he forces her to pray nude. Did I mention that the shackled hottie falls in love with him? Move over, Black Snake Moan.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Goya, aqui, é o coadjuvante de luxo de uma história que não faz jus nem mesmo aos seus protagonistas.
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
A storyline that turns so silly, you half-expect Mel Brooks to show up reprising his "Inquisition" musical number from History of the World Part I.
Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
Goya gets lost as the filmmakers turn Spanish history into a chronicle of easy contemporary targets. They don't just hit the social-political bull's-eye -- they obliterate it with a cannon and inadvertently scorch the dramatic landscape all around it.
Marta Barber, Miami Herald
Captures the essence of the period -- an intriguing, backward era in Spain -- but without the emotional impact that such a film requires.
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Reminds us of the wisdom behind the title of Goya's most famous etching: 'The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.'
Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly
A disjointed oddity.
John Thomason, Orlando Weekly
Goya's Ghosts is less about the eponymous painter than it is a gripping two-part story of politics and faith during and after the Spanish Inquisition.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
Goya's Ghosts is a smart, darkly funny and deeply pessimistic film. It looks good and features wonderful performances.
Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
Forman ought to have put his film to The Question a little longer before letting it loose on the world.
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org
Goya's Ghosts has ambitious goals that it never fully attains. It proves intermittently fascinating but ultimately disappointing.
David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune
What Forman doesn't give us is drama of sure coherence or credibility, but the trappings entrance.

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jeff "

Film about the life of famed Spanish artist Francisco Goya, Goya's Ghost is a sweeping drama directed by masterful director Milos Forman. I feel that this is a phenomenal period piece. Goya's Ghost has a phenomenal cast and is one impressive historical drama. Not since… More
Film about the life of famed Spanish artist Francisco Goya, Goya's Ghost is a sweeping drama directed by masterful director Milos Forman. I feel that this is a phenomenal period piece. Goya's Ghost has a phenomenal cast and is one impressive historical drama. Not since Forman's film Amadeus has a film of this caliber looked this impressive. Goya's Ghost is set during the Spanish inquisition and shows the harsh period for what it is. Forman's film paints an impressive picture of a gifted artist. The cast that Milos Forman assembles here is an in impressive bunch of talented individuals. They truly bring this film up a notch. Goya's Ghosts is not a perfect film, but there's a lot to appreciate from this film. The story is well crafted, engaging and above all, entertaining. However, there were a few moments that just didn't cut it. For example Natalie Portman at times was overdoing her role, and she turned a rather great performance into a good one. Stellan Skaarsgard is of course, the best role here as Francisco Goya. He truly brought something unique to the screen. This is a near flawless picture that has wonderful performances and a very engaging story. A truly well made film that is almost perfect, Goya's Ghosts brings back elements of Forman previous period piece Amadeus, only this around he focuses on a unique painter.
Pierluigi P

Master Spanish painter Francisco de Goya is confined here to be a mere middle man, a MacGuffin in a tasteless soap opera set in the midst of two centuries. Milos Forman is a good director, but neither he nor his co-writer, the famous Buñuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carrière could… More
Master Spanish painter Francisco de Goya is confined here to be a mere middle man, a MacGuffin in a tasteless soap opera set in the midst of two centuries. Milos Forman is a good director, but neither he nor his co-writer, the famous Buñuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carrière could follow a truly significant period of Goya's life. It pretends to cover a big span of time, but falls short.
Curtis L

Nothing like the Spanish inquisition to make a movie good. Natalie portman gets hung up and tortured until she is a creepy crazy lady, and a Monk dies. It really didn't have much of a point other than to show what the time was like for Goya, but it was fun to watch.
Jennifer X

An interviewer asked Milos Forman why this wasn't filmed in Spanish. He answered: "Because I can't speak Spanish." I now officially love Milos Forman.
William D

[size=3]"Goya's Ghosts" is a remarkable film by legendary filmmaker [b]Milos Forman[/b]. It examines Spain in the terribly turbulent time of the French Revolution: a[/size][size=3]n epoch so much more violent and profound than the vast majority of Americans… More
[size=3]"Goya's Ghosts" is a remarkable film by legendary filmmaker [b]Milos Forman[/b]. It examines Spain in the terribly turbulent time of the French Revolution: a[/size][size=3]n epoch so much more violent and profound than the vast majority of Americans realize.[/size] [img]http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/yahoo_manual/20070411/15/3347186604.jpg[/img] [size=3]Kudos to Forman for bringing to the screen a glimpse of this colossal, two-decades-long upheaval. He only scratches the surface, but that's better than nothing. (It amazes me that the French Revolution remains virtually unexplored territory in cinema. It's an absolute gold mine for those interested in drama.)[/size] [size=3]"Goya's Ghosts" is not a great film, but it has moments of greatness, especially in the first hour. Forman's directorial choices in the second half were dubious. From my perspective, this is when the film runs aground. [/size][size=3]But the first half towers over the vast majority of what we've seen on the screen this year.[/size] [img]http://www.planb.no/images/pub/filmanmeldelser/goyas-ghost-a.jpg[/img] [size=3]The first half of the film is carried by an exquisite performance by [b]Javier Bardem[/b], who is headed for worldwide stardom. He plays a monk whose evil knows no bounds. Despite what the title might suggest, the film is not about the painter Francisco Goya. The film is about the Bardem character. He starts out as a monk leading a revival of the Inquisition, but then changes his spots to become a loathsome revolutionary despot.[/size] [size=3][b]Stellan Skarsgaard[/b] (as Goya) and [b]Natalie Portman[/b], who is in my mind one of the top five movie actresses of her generation (her performance in the masterpiece "Closer" will be studied for decades I am sure) offer strong support, but the film belongs to Bardem. The film really isn't about any particular character; it's about the terrifying socio-political cross-currents that everyone in that time had to navigate. There was no escaping it -- that is one of the major points in the film. Living in a revolutionary time has its consequences.[/size] [img]http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2007/05/36a_03_goya_48_243x296.jpg[/img] [size=3]The plot hinges on the way that Portman's character is victimized by the currents of the time. But the film cares more about how other characters deal with that victimization. [/size] [size=3]Portman plays an upper-class girl who is mistaken for a "Judaizer," someone who is outwardly Christian but who practices Judaic rituals in private and has Judaic sympathies. The reason the Inquisitors come to suspect her is so hilarious that I won't spoil it by giving it away. Suffice it to say, this girl ends up getting caught in the grips of the last conservative gasp of the ancien regime before the upheaval that washes it away in a tidal wave of blood in the French Revolution.[/size] [img]http://static.blogo.it/cineblog/goya_film_500.jpg[/img] [size=3]What was most interesting to me was watching her family, especially her father, navigate these terribly violent waters and do his best to get his daughter released. The power struggle he initiates is absolutely fascinating to watch. It's a real lesson in how terrifying the 18th century must have been for those living through it.[/size] [size=3]But just when we thought the film was going to be about the power struggles of the Inquisition, the French Revolution spills over the Pyrenees into Spain, and the film becomes much more complicated.[/size] [size=3]But to my absolute chagrin, the film gets cartoonish as it goes on. After the French Revolution succeeds in establishing some sort of stable social regime in Spain, the British arrive to overthrow things yet again. (Napoleon, who emerged out of the chaos of the French Revolution, was defeated by the British in 1815.) The reimposition of conservative power after Napoleon's defeat, including a re-establishment of the Catholic Church's power in Spain, is played almost for laughs. I had a real tough time understanding what was funny about this new round of socio-political upheaval and violence.[/size] [size=3]The film almost ends campy, after starting in a way that was stark, stoical and brilliant. It's almost weird, as if two different directors handled the film. The first half is very much worth seeing; the second half, not so much.[/size]
Mark A

A nightmare film about a very dark chapter in European history, when the Age of Enlightenment dawned and the forces of rationalism still waged war with the Catholic church and its Holy Inquisition. Natalie Portman played a dual role as mother and daughter, Ines, one of Goya's… More
A nightmare film about a very dark chapter in European history, when the Age of Enlightenment dawned and the forces of rationalism still waged war with the Catholic church and its Holy Inquisition. Natalie Portman played a dual role as mother and daughter, Ines, one of Goya's models who is swept up in the religious fervor of the Inquisition and also her orphaned daughter, Alicia, who became a street prostitute. The role of Ines was particularly wrenching and extremely well played. Javier Bardem as the priest, and leader of the Spanish Inquisition who was disgraced and returned with the French "liberators" was foreboding and dark in his machinations to protect his reputation at the expense of others. And Stellan Skarsgard did a masterful job as Goya, one of Spain's most celebrated artists. There were times that the script stretched credibility, and several scenes of brutality and human misery made this film difficult to watch at times. But the craft is evident and the the topic relevant to today, investigating knowledge versus faith and liberty versus security and the role of the artist to seek after truth no matter the cost.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Goya's Ghosts," Francisco Goya's(Stellan Skarsgard) art angers the Church in 1792 Spain but with friends like King Carlos(Randy Quaid) and Queen Maria Luisa(Blanca Portillo), the Spanish Inquisition cannot touch him. In their zealousness… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Goya's Ghosts," Francisco Goya's(Stellan Skarsgard) art angers the Church in 1792 Spain but with friends like King Carlos(Randy Quaid) and Queen Maria Luisa(Blanca Portillo), the Spanish Inquisition cannot touch him. In their zealousness to fill their quota, they arrest a young woman, Ines(Natalie Portman), for the sin of not wanting to eat pork(I would be so dead...) which places her under suspicion of being Jewish. Ines' father(Jose Luis Gomez), a wealthy merchant, asks Goya to intercede with Father Lorenzo(Javier Bardem) for him...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Directed by Milos Forman, "Goya's Ghosts" is an oddly engrossing and intelligent period piece with echoes of the present day, especially on the issue of torture, of course, and the French invasion in the second half of the movie. Overall, the movie is concerned with truth and how there is not one absolute truth, no matter what any particular fanatic or fundamentalist may yell at you about. The one constant is personified by Francisco Goya whose art survives to this day, long after the Spanish Inquisition has thankfully died out. And this might have something to do with his depicting his world as honestly as possible.[/font][font=Century Gothic] [/font]
Jeffrey M

Certainly not a conventional film, Goya's Ghosts has an abundance of plot lines and melodrama. Some may not like its' methodical pace, but the setting and characters are so fascinating, I couldn't help but enjoy it. Especially recommended for those that like period… More
Certainly not a conventional film, Goya's Ghosts has an abundance of plot lines and melodrama. Some may not like its' methodical pace, but the setting and characters are so fascinating, I couldn't help but enjoy it. Especially recommended for those that like period pieces, or find humor in having Randy Quaid cast as a king.
Yinalí R

Okay..Kinda.
William G

Initially interesting historical drama takes a turn for soap opera in second half.
Tom S

A fantastic reflection on the relationship between power and truth, this movie has been sorely underappreciated and poorly distributed. There's really no excuse for it.
Sunil J

Read some bad reviews and didn't think I would like it at all but watched it for Natalie Portman. I thought it was very original and very well done.
Doctor S

In a word: BORING. Slow, dingy, self-serious with some ridiculous casting - who buys Randy Quaid as a powder-wigged aristocrat?? And Natalie Portman, a pasty-white Jewish girl as a saucy Spanish senorita? No mas!
Audrey L

Milos Forman has an exquisite penchant for the study of breaking with social convention and the repercussions that follow for the protagonists in his films. I find the lukewarm reception and the film's being so underrated quite disillusioning. This is one of his finest… More
Milos Forman has an exquisite penchant for the study of breaking with social convention and the repercussions that follow for the protagonists in his films. I find the lukewarm reception and the film's being so underrated quite disillusioning. This is one of his finest works,masterfully filmed-the cinematography is breathtaking and the acting stellar.
Laurence C

Forman has done better. Tricking us into believing this is a film about Goya himself, he is actually more interesting in painting a portrait of the Inquisition. That would have been quite okay if the proceedings weren't as scattershot, but alas... It's no secret… More
Forman has done better. Tricking us into believing this is a film about Goya himself, he is actually more interesting in painting a portrait of the Inquisition. That would have been quite okay if the proceedings weren't as scattershot, but alas... It's no secret Goya's Ghost cruelly lacks a central character or something called a 'plot'; but those are mistakes I can get usually get over really quick. It is not the case here. The Historical events (portrayed with a big H) spin out of control as they enter and depart the story with more or less the impact they should provoke. It is more a series of sometimes arresting, sometimes melodramatic tableaux than a coherent story. The cinematography provides, however, an eye-pleasing diversion from the dull screenplay painted with surprisingly silly moments. Its 'supper scene' somehow manages to become one of the filmmaker's most cleverly constructed an-eye-for-an-eye scene, and the three leads (particularly Portman) deliver, as expected, stellar performances. But the whole thing, despite its panache, is only interesting in bits and pieces. And I must say, it's cheap to whine about this, but... English-speaking people in Spain and France?
Magnus X

"And those who refuse to see the light of liberty shall receive no mercy. There will be no liberty for the enemies of liberty." A powerful drama about Goya and his muse Inés during the times of Spanish Inquisition and the French Revolution. Great cast with Stellan Skarsgård… More
"And those who refuse to see the light of liberty shall receive no mercy. There will be no liberty for the enemies of liberty." A powerful drama about Goya and his muse Inés during the times of Spanish Inquisition and the French Revolution. Great cast with Stellan Skarsgård as Goya, Natalie Portman as Inés and Javier Bardem.
Daisy M

This is an epic directed by Milos Foreman, a drama about passion, power and betrayal dring the Spanish Inquisition. Fransisco Goya, famous Spanish painter, played by Stellan Skarsgard (Pirates of the Caribbean) drawn himself into a web, when his inspiration Ines, played by Nathaly… More
This is an epic directed by Milos Foreman, a drama about passion, power and betrayal dring the Spanish Inquisition. Fransisco Goya, famous Spanish painter, played by Stellan Skarsgard (Pirates of the Caribbean) drawn himself into a web, when his inspiration Ines, played by Nathaly Portman, was impresioned for heresy against the church. Goya seeks to free her with the help of Father Lorenzo played by Javier Bardem, bewitched by her beauty Lorenzo commits the unthinkable, leaving Goya to sense of a world gone mad. <a href="http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/?action=view¤t=goys.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/goys.jpg" border="0" alt="goya"></a> Its a nice movie, full of passion, and nice performances from the spanish and american actors. I have never seen Bardem in a bad role, except for no country for old man I guess, but he is good in playing the bad guy, But i prefer to see him in romantic roles, thts much better on him.. 4 stars <a href="http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/?action=view¤t=goyasghost.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/goyasghost.jpg" border="0" alt="Goya's ghost"></a>
Remi L

Crazy movie! Natalie Portman really showed her versatility in this film! And it's crazy how the director was still able to find comedy in the Inquisition and the French Revolution!!
FanGirl B

Meh