GOYA IN BORDEAUX A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
Spain's prolific and visually audacious writer/director Carlos Saura (TANGO) is back this time with a film, GOYA IN BORDEAUX, about the famous painter Francisco de Goya, played by the even more prolific Spanish actor Francisco Rabal (TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN!). The picture won several appropriately named "Goyas," the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars, for best actor, cinematography, set design and make-up.
Shot entirely on a sound stage, the surreal film opens with the image of a gutted beef carcass, being hauled up to dry. As the camera pulls in tight on the bloody flesh, the editor dissolves the frame into one of Goya's face. Looking like a not-quite-finished clay sculpture, Goya's large pock-marked face slowly comes to life.
The movie itself is told in flashbacks as the ailing octogenarian tells stories to his young teenaged daughter, Rosario (Daphne Fernández). Although he has clearly told his stories to her many times before, she smiles and assures him that she has never heard them before.
Listening to these ramblings of an old man is rather like trying to assemble a puzzle in which you've lost most of the pieces. We do learn that he once strived with all of his might to become a court painter. Later, it seems, he became more revolutionary and renounced his prior allegiances. Much more than that isn't clear. He did have a love affair with one of his nude models, a fetchingly beautiful Duchess of Alba (Maribel Verdú). José Coronado plays Goya as a young man, and sometimes both ages appear in the same scene to discuss his art and his life.
To evaluate GOYA IN BORDEAUX on the storyline and dialog, however, misses the point of the film. Saura is a visual stylist and his works have to be evaluated on that level. Think of this as a cinematic opera, and you'll get the idea. For this reason, whenever Roque Baños's wonderful period music plays and the actors shut up, the movie soars. The corollary to this, however, is that when the film, as it frequently does, sticks to traditional dialog sans music, it quickly grinds to a halt. But pump up the sound, turn on the fog machine and let those actors stroll by in lavish costumes, powdery wigs and make-up, and you have grand opera for just the price of a movie ticket.
GOYA IN BORDEAUX runs 1:42. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. It is rated R for some sexuality and violent imagery and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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