Goya in Bordeaux

Goya in Bordeaux

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Movie Reviews of Goya in Bordeaux

Movie Review: Exquisite work of art
Summary: 5 Stars

This movie is unlike conventional films. The choreography between music and image is breathtaking. It is an exquisite blend of theater, dance, pantomime, music and painting. The attention to detail is truly impressive: Goya's technique, his preoccupations, the costumes, music, courtly politics, historical setting and color palette. It depicts with admirable economy 19th century Spain and its character, as that fascinating blend of turnmoil and fury, glory and beauty.

Francisco Rabal is astonishing as Goya, his face a geographical self-portrait in itself. A rock of a man, rugged, provincial, unsophisticated, yet commanding an undeniable presence and a primitive virility, possessing a hyper-developed imagination and sensitivity. This is not easy to pull off by an actor, but Rabal *is* Goya.

Goya is a profoundly masculine painter, yet women are never estranged in his art, neither excessively revered, nor resented and reduced. His taste for them, and their influence on him, is keenly felt. In the movie the painter reminisces on his affair with the indomitable Duchess of Alba, speculating that this was the great love of his life. A man capable of loving many women, and in many ways, we see the contrast with his last motherly wife. The director also recreates a tender relationship between the almost-ancient Goya and his young daughter, taking her fisrt teetering steps into adulthood. Near-death, Goya's mind is still as active as ever, but we sense that facing mortality has softened his edges. Conscience and guilt, the Duchess, have come to demand their dues.

Carlos Saura's obvious love and admiration for his subject are contagious. When the movie was over, I felt more like I had been to a gorgeous live art performance than to the local movie theater. I had never seen anything like it, and I loved every second.