Goya in Bordeaux (1999)

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his ... See full summary »

Director:

Carlos Saura

Writers:

Carlos Saura, Luigi Scattini (dialogue: Italian version)

Stars:

Francisco Rabal, Jose Coronado, Dafne Fernández

12 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Francisco Rabal	...	Goya
Jose Coronado	...	Goya Joven
Dafne Fernández	...	Rosario (as Dafne Fernádez)
Eulàlia Ramon	...	Leocadia (as Eulalia Ramón)
Maribel Verdú	...	Duquesa de Alba
Joaquín Climent	...	Moratín
Cristina Espinosa	...	Pepita Tudó
Josep Maria Pou	...	Godoy (as Jose María Pou)
Saturnino García	...	Cura y 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

Storyline

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his much younger wife Leocadia and their daughter Rosario. He continues to paint at night, and in flashbacks stirred by conversations with his daughter, by awful headaches, and by the befuddlement of age, he relives key times in his life, particularly his relationship with the Duchess of Alba, his discovery of how he wanted to paint (insight provided by Velázquez's work), and his lifelong celebration of the imagination. Throughout, his reveries become tableaux of his paintings.

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Plot Keywords:

exile | duchess of alba | bordeaux | flashback | duchess | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality and violent imagery

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

Spain Italy

Language:

Spanish French

Release Date:

12 November 1999 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Goya in Bordeaux

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$47,962, 17 September 2000

Gross USA:

$635,361

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$635,361

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lolafilms, Italian International Film, RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Strange coincidence: the actor Francisco Rabal not only plays the old Goya but in real life also died in Bordeaux, in 2001, two years after premiering the film.

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Goofs

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.

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Connections

Referenced in Frida (2002)

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Soundtracks

Quintet, op 31
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

User Reviews

visually impressive, worth watching

The episode of life of the Spanish painter Goya portrayed in this film is told through dreamlike anti-realistic settings and colours. One falls under the impression that the film belongs more to cinematographer Vittorio Storaro than to the actual director of the film, but that happens very often with this colour-crazy Italian (remember the Bernardo Bertolucci films). The last films of Fassbinder also spring into mind at times, especially when colour is achieved through projection of coloured light (instead of the objects themselves containing colour), which is understandable in the case of the German director, since he started off in theatre, but less so in Saura's case. And at certain moments the theatrical techniques used are stretched too far into the world of theatre, seeming to forget that what we are supposed to be watching is cinema and not a videotaped play, as in the use of a wall that at times is opaque and at other times becomes transparent. But all in all the film is a pleasure to watch, especially if you appreciate good photography.