The story goes as follows:
In 1792, the supreme power in Spain was still in the hands of the Catholic Church. Whether before or after the French invasion, the Spanish Catholic pope maintained a dull, rigid image. A relatively avant-garde monk, Lorenzo (played by Javier Bardem), suggested that the Pope reopen the Inquisition as in the Middle Ages and strengthen his control over people's minds. Lorenzo loves the paintings of Spanish painter Goya, through which he sees the beautiful model Ines (played by Natalie Portman), the daughter of a wealthy businessman who is mistaken for following Jewish traditions Arrested and jailed. But when Lorenzo and Ines' father begged Lorenzo to save the girl, Lorenzo went straight to prison and raped her. Lorenzo was forced to sign the copy of the girl's father, the pope knew about it, and Lorenzo was forced to flee Spain.
Years later, when French troops invaded Spain, Goya was almost completely deaf, and he became a shadowy psychopath, almost a ghost of himself. But this period was also the peak of his creative career. Lorenzo fled to France, turned his back on the Catholic canon, married a wife and had children. At this time, he returned to Spain to serve as the executive officer of the Napoleonic regime in Spain. He abolished the Inquisition he established and the prisoners were released. Ines was old and mad by this time, and his family had died in the war. She had to find Goya and tell him that her only concern was her daughter, who was born in prison, and that she hadn't even breastfed her. Goya approached Lorenzo to explain the matter, but he denied it and put Ines in an asylum. Goya finds Ines' daughter Alicia (also played by Natalie Portman), a young and beautiful prostitute who escaped from a monastery as a child and found herself among the gypsies. But Lorenzo didn't want the mother and daughter to recognize her as a woman, and only suggested that she move to the United States, all intent on clearing up her own troubles. Goya ransoms Ines from the madhouse, but on the way to the brothel, Lorenzo has sent people to send all the prostitutes to the United States. Ines picks up the baby left by the prostitute.
Feng Shui turns. Napoleon was defeated, and the Duke of Wellington's cavalry entered Spain. Spain fell again, and Lorenzo was arrested on the way to escape. Catholicism was brought back to power, and Lorenzo chose not to repent at the trial, and was finally sentenced to death. At the end of the film, children in rags sing ballads around Ines, while Ines hugs the little girl and holds Loren's hand on the corpse car. Goya followed and drifted away.
The scene of Ines being raped is also used as a "watch" for the film, because Portman's classmates are completely naked in this play. It's a pity that those who think like this are probably very disappointed. Portman's naked body at the moment seems to be the only light in the darkness, and Father Lorenzo's robe happens to be black, and he seems to be devouring the only light. Her body has long been more than just a body, but a symbol, representing beauty, youth, and liveliness, in strong contrast to the stale and dark religion. Likewise, in this film all these things that represent good, living things are wiped out in the end—even Lorenzo, who later hyped up the spirit of freedom in Spain, was sentenced to death.
When Ines stepped out of the Inquisition, the music was a female voiceless singing. When Ines walked past the corpses, past the wailing people, and walked to the front of the house that was full of corpses, he used to be. The female voice's pitch reaches F3, and we hear an off-screen sound: it's like the whine of Spain itself.
After the circumstances have changed, what we see is a completely different Goya than 20 years ago: he is frowning, his expression is stern, his eyes are sharp and slovenly, and he is also an image that is out of tune with the turbulent environment around him. He remains awake throughout the film, although we know that the painter himself is insane at the end. Maybe this is just a state of "everyone is crazy and I wake up alone". He's a historical witness in the movie - going through dynasties and seeing his beautiful image completely destroyed and left with nothing in the end. The three protagonists in the film: Ines, Lorenzo, and Goya, one is dead, the other is crazy, but Goya continues to be lonely and desolate.
After the execution of the criminals in the square, the band played a cheerful dance music. Everyone danced happily. They had long forgotten the atrocities created in the Napoleonic era, forgot to grieve, and forgot that their country was still an invaded country, just like the Napoleon regime had just been established. When people listened to Lorenzo's speech and cheered, they were in a perpetual collective unconscious.
In this film, we see that both the artist and the beautiful girl he describes are powerless. They cannot control the change of regime, and they do not cause any harm to others, but they are ruined until they lose their voice and right to speak. I'm more inclined to think that this movie is a movie about despair, and it depicts the despair of the artist - he is sensitive, he sees everything, but he can't do anything, he wants to do something, but he is unwilling to do so. weak. Goya rescued Ines, but she was already crazy, even if she is not crazy, there are thousands of Ines, who will save her? Goya's roar of arms was not known until later. We can finally see the deep meaning in his paintings today, the horrific scenes he painted, but what were people doing at that time? Did they feel it? Perhaps more often, they will only say with contempt or regret: "This lunatic..."
The ballad at the end of the film is very thought-provoking. The children sang and jumped innocently. The singing was full of joy, not too much sadness. Only when the pitchless percussion accompaniment is played does one evoke that kind of shackled joy. The old, ugly, and hunchbacked Ines looked back and smiled. Everything seemed to return to the past. She was still the angel, the saint on the church mural, the young and happy girl with the scent of jasmine. At this time, the old man followed Goya, looking old and lonely. What a lonely and helpless back it was!
Of course this story is probably fictional. "Mozart" is probably fictional. It seems that the director wants us to interpret something more than to tell us a historical fact like a textbook copy. In "The Biography of Mozart" we see the helplessness of geniuses, and in "The Soul of Goya" we see the helplessness of the most sensitive artist in the context of a turbulent era. Maybe that's enough.
View more about Goya's Ghosts reviews
