Goya en Burdeos (1999)

Director:

Carlos Saura

Writers:

Carlos Saura (writer)
Luigi Scattini (dialogue: Italian version)

Release Date:

12 November 1999 (Spain)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | War

Plot:

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux...

Plot Keywords:

Bordeaux | Flashback | Duchess | Painting | Dream Sequence

Awards:

12 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Francisco Rabal	...	Goya
José Coronado	...	Goya joven
Dafne Fernández	...	Rosario (also as Dafne Fernádez)
Eulalia Ramón	...	Leocadia
Maribel Verdú	...	Duquesa de Alba
Joaquín Climent	...	Moratín
Cristina Espinosa	...	Pepita Tudó
Josep Maria Pou	...	Godoy (as José María Pou)
Saturnino García	...	Cura / San Antonio
Concha Leza	...	Mujer en Andalucía
Franco di Francescantonio	...	Doctor en Andalucía
Carlos Hipólito	...	Juan Valdés
Manuel de Blas	...	Salcedo
Pedro Azorín	...	Braulio Poe
Emilio Gutiérrez Caba	...	José de la Cruz

Also Known As:

Goya in Bordeaux (UK) (USA)
Goya (Italy)
Goya à Bordeaux (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) [fr]
Goya (Greece) [el]
Goya (France) [fr]
Goya (Germany) [de]
Goya (Finland) [fi]
Goya en Burdeos (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Goya en Burdeos (Brazil) [pt]
Goya: Luces y sombras de un genio (Argentina) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and violent imagery.

Runtime:

Argentina:107 min | Canada:102 min | Germany:106 min | Spain:106 min

Country:

Spain | Italy

Language:

Spanish | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Peru:14 | Singapore:R(A) | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Italian International Film

Goofs:

Factual errors: In some copies on the film, when Goya's daughter Rosario is showing him her drawing, sitting on an easel in the background we see "La lechera de Burdeos/The Milkmaid of Bordeaux", one of the artist's last paintings. The image we see is reversed - the milkmaid is facing to the right and in the original she faces to the left. This is so due to the fact that the negative of some DVDs and some release prints is inverted in a brief middle section of the film that includes this scene. Another scene is that in which he is commissioned to paint the frescoes of San Antonio de la Florida Chapel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Frida (2002)

Soundtrack:

Largo

Storaro's camera plays well Saura's cuasi-surrealism

Life is but a series of fortuitous events called destiny. Francisco Goya lived a life fraught with fateful occurences which drove him to despair, and ended his days in Bordeaux. His three-times interpreter, Francisco Rabal, little knew as he made this film that he too would end his days in the same city. Such is the coincidence of life and death.

Goya (1999), made as `Goya en Burdeos', hints at these and other casualities in a refined genteel way, notwithstanding the sometimes temperamental mood of the Aragonés painter. The genius of this film is how Storaro's magnificent photography and Saura's gifted and inspired directing, actually brought to life so many of the painter's creations: paintings only seen in Madrid art museums or in books. It was a delight to suddenly recognize in scenes in the film some of these beautiful works, as if magically brought to life by technological tricks, but with so much care.

Rabal's interpretation is superb: it could not have been otherwise, this being the third and last time the old Murcian actor had to take on the task of being Goya. It is also worth mentioning Dafné Fernández, who gave an intelligently picturesque performance; as was to be hoped for after seeing her wonderful part as Fuensanta in `Pajarico' (qv) made one year earlier.

It cannot be denied that Storaro's photography frequently becomes one of the main protagonists in the film's telling. No doubt this is in response to the peculiarities of Saura's directing, and thus, for me, makes a near-perfect coupling. It must also be added that the music employed in the film has been exquisitely selected, first with Roque Baños' own composing beautifully intertwining with pieces by Boccherini, Couperin, Tchaickovsky and Beethoven, as well as by an anonymous 17th Century Spanish composer sounding very much like Luys de Narváez.

A serious film for those who appreciate excursions into historical cultural backgrounds balanced by a stately unhurried production.