Goya’s Ghosts – C-

Released on DVD this week. Rated R

In 1792 Spain, Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) is inspired by the beauty of Ines (Natalie Portman) and she becomes his muse. When she is incarcerated by the Spanish Inquisition, her father asks Goya to help secure her release since he is well-respected and has connections (chief among them Inquisition member Brother Lorenzo – Javier Bardem). She’s brutally tortured and her father subsequently tortures Lorenzo. 15 years elapse and Napoleon has invaded Spain. Ines has been in prison for 15 years and Lorenzo is now a successful secular businessman. Loyalties shift as the country changes power back and forth. (Click below for the first ever Portman-Tandy comparison)The first half of the film works OK as a rather obvious critique of present-day America’s activities in Guantanamo Bay. Randy Quaid (forever Cousin Eddie to me) is obviously miscast as the Spanish King, but there are still some interesting scenes -particularly when the torturers become the tortured. The 1807 section is unintentionally hilarious with the makeup department making Natalie Portman look like Jessica Tandy. Goya is now deaf making bad scenes unbearable with the ridiculous sign language. Javier Bardem tries hard but he’s so powerful in No Country for Old Men that it may be impossible to see him as anyone but Anton Chigurh ever again.

This is the first film by director Milos Forman in 8 years and I’m not sure how he lost his touch this badly, being a complete master of character interactions in Amadeus (A) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (A). His last 2 films were The People vs. Larry Flynt (B) and Man on the Moon (B-), both difficult biopics that he pulled off albeit less successfully than his 2 Oscar-winners. Here, the actors are miscast, overacting, and overdoing it. The characters are unlikable and there are scenes that will make you squirm, namely Portman getting tortured. Too bad really, though I’m not sure this material could ever be made into a good film. That’s even more true when you shoot yourself in the foot by miscasting all of your leads. C-

For reference, Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy.