The absurdity persists throughout the film. In the main story, the young girl Elise was imprisoned in a monastery as a heretic because she did not eat pork; the virtuous priest Lorenzo actually recited Latin prayers to God, while encroaching on Elise in the cell. 15 years later, Lorenzo, who defected from religion and returned to Spain as the leader of the Great Revolution, learned that his and Elise's illegitimate daughter had become a street prostitute; when Lorenzo intended to drive Elicia out of the country , but encountered the mighty Wellington army. When he was sent to the guillotine, his daughter Elicia was one of the spectators who accompanied the New Zealand officer; Elise, following the scooter that was dragging Lorenzo's body, held the cold hand, and embraced the baby girl who was checked in, walking lightly, as if this was the happiest moment of her life.
Narrow religious doctrines, human desires and greed, political struggles, and wars are flooding the world, all of which have become the cause of painful life. Goya witnessed all this and reflected this absurd world with his brush. Elise is a beautiful angel in his eyes, and his lifelike paintings indirectly bring disaster to her throughout her life. The originally beautiful life was about to unfold in front of the young girl, but she was absurdly defined as a heretic, and she suffered from it: the physical torture of torture in the interrogation room, the rape of Lorenzo in danger, the loss of his beloved daughter and The 15-year dark life was not the end of the pain for the withered Elise. Despite Goya's great help, she was sent to a lunatic asylum by the person she loved, and finally became mentally ill. And the joy that Elise really felt was only after she went crazy, mistakenly picked up the baby as her own daughter, and pulled the body of her lover to get the final "reunion". When a person is sane, the world he faces is full of absurdities, and he has gone through countless ups and downs; but after being insane, he can find the simplest happiness in a world that ordinary people think should be full of absurdities. Elise's life itself is absurd.
It is also ironic about Lorenzo's entanglement with religion. The three staggered trials of each other at different times but in the same space have produced extreme absurdity. First of all, Lorenzo defected from the religion after the bishop discovered the absurd statement signed under the coercion of Father Elise, and Goya’s portrait of Lorenzo was also confiscated by the convent and destroyed as a symbol. A portrait, the priest said slowly, "When the image of a person disappears, including the evil spirit, everything about him disappears." And 15 years later, Lorenzo returned home from France as a hero of the Revolution. First abolished the monastery; sat high in the Inquisition to examine the once condescending bishop, and sentenced him to death coldly; and the bishop with his noble soul was in the prison cell, in order to avoid torture, he traded his illegitimate daughter to Lorenzo When it comes to information, the weak panting and helpless begging just show the anxiety of an ordinary person with flesh and blood when facing death. Their roles, however, were reversed once again when Wellington's army swept through Spain. This time, the bishop once again put on the bright red teaching uniform, and Lorenzo, who was previously domineering, just knelt down on the judgment seat and accepted the sentence of his hanging. Such an upside-down absurd encounter reflects the ups and downs of the French Revolution in European history through personal experience.
In this process, people and people, people and religions, people and politics, religion and politics, all kinds of conflicts continue. Everyone suffers a painful life in the chaos of the world. In the silent world, Goya watched the war, hunger, and the strong eat from the sidelines. He could only record with his brush silently, and tried his best to help Elise, but it always backfired; the selfish Lorenzo subverted Faith, life is ups and downs; and Elise is even more self-evident; Elisia has been an orphan since childhood, and even became a tool to make money in the hands of the prostitute; even the high-ranking De Fernand VII and the queen are only living in the hypocrisy of others reflected. In the face of a painful life, in fact, everyone is pursuing their own freedom, even if the effect of everyone's efforts in the process of pursuing freedom is limited.
The seemingly absurd storyline is a microcosm of the world. Behind the image, it reflects the director's intention to pay attention to existence and life. In such a world, there is no absolute right or wrong, no one can be absolutely classified as a good person or a bad person, and the value standard is not conserved. Hegel said, "what exists is rational". Everything just happens, happens because of the existence of the circuit itself. Not only in the once turbulent Europe, but even now, what everyone can do is to face and accept it, bear the unavoidable anxiety, make their own choices in the absurd reality and painful life, and work hard. Fight for your own freedom, freely choose and freely accept the consequences of your free choice.
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