Synopsis
Painter Francisco Goya becomes involved with the Spanish Inquisition after his muse, Inés, is arrested by the church for heresy. Her family turns to him, hoping that his connection with fanatical Inquisitor Lorenzo, whom he is painting, can secure her release.
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Cast
- Javier BardemLorenzo Casamares
- Natalie PortmanInés Bilbatúa / Alicia
- Stellan SkarsgårdFrancisco Goya
- Randy QuaidKing Carlos IV
- José Luis GómezTomás Bilbatúa
- Michael LonsdaleInquisitor General
- Blanca PortilloQueen María Luisa
- Mabel RiveraMaría Isabel Bilbatúa
- Unax UgaldeÁngel Bilbatúa
- Fernando TielveÁlvaro Bilbatúa
Recommendations
- 75
Premiere
Ghosts is one of Forman's most ambitious and daring films; would that all of its ambitions were fulfilled. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
Goya's Ghosts is like the sketchbook Goya might have made with a camera. - 70
Variety
Ambitious script is stranded between entertainment and intellectualism, leaving us with a magnificent folly, thoroughly watchable for its visuals but ultimately hollow. - 70
L.A. Weekly
Far from an embarrassment and a generally fine piece of work. - 50
ReelViews
The movie is uneven in the extreme, to the extent that it feels like two imperfectly wed pictures. The first, while not extraordinary, at least contains some interesting ideas. The second borders on embarrassing: an overblown melodrama complete with coincidence building upon coincidence and plot threads that are left unresolved. - 50
Village Voice
The film takes as many plot-twists as "Pirates of the Caribbean"; distinctly Goya in its emphasis on the grotesque, it shows none of the Spaniard's artistic economy. - 50
Salon
The whole thing is handsomely mounted, with plenty of Goya paintings and supposed observations about the ironies of history and the cyclical nature of life, etc. Forman's always been a huckster, but I never thought I'd see him waste this many good actors on a movie this bad. - 50
Washington Post
Handsome but stilted.
