Why so much hype?

Thanks for the memories!

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The story is presented to us very much like a mosaic....many colourful pieces which have to be put together in order to discover the real Goya, official court painter of Spain. Unfortunately many of the pieces are missing.Sorting through his host of memories, the aging Goya tells his daughter who happens to be interested in art herself about the importance of freedom of expression...to be original and to follow her own path. To have an old sick man narrating the story tends to slow things up and the film at times becomes rather dreary and boring.However, some of the incidents expressed in his works of art are very interesting and very familiar e.g. the painting of the Duchess of Alba posing as the naked Maja and the execution of the Spanish by the hostile French army under Napoleon.In the early part of the film (which happens to be rather slow) the theatrical device of using transparent wall with back lighting is effective.No one can quibble about the overall artistry of the film....the dancing, music, wonderful costumes of the courtiers in their finery and powdered wigs...all very correct for the period.There were a couple of errors worth noting. When the lightning storm strikes and the windows blow in and Goya goes over to shut them, the curtains cease moving before he actually shuts the windows. And again, if you watch carefully, Goya as a young man paints with his left hand and as an older man paints with his right. Strange, don't you think?

This movie portrays very well the Spanish history and like his last movies, Carlos Saura makes art out of the illumination and the colours. As usual, Paco Rabal is magnificent and Maribel Verdu is perfect for the role of la Duquesa de Alba, very sensual and a little evil.

I loved this movie, although it started out slow, and there was much symbolism. I found some scenes very touching, and found myself thinking about other scenes after the movie. The movie was very picturesque, but I found the music even more impressive. There was one score that was repeated all through the movie and during the end credits and I cannot get it out of my head. I hope to find the soundtrack somewhere. I should mention that there is not much of a storyline. This is the story of Goya's life, which as I understand is not very eventful. However, the story telling is just beautiful, and I couldn't keep my eyes of the screen, while my husband slept all through the movie.

Peter Greenaway was the first to show us that film could be "moving painting" (as opposed to moving photography). The life of Goya is reflected to the screen through his paintings and it is very beautifully done.Saura is very careful to stress the "artistic" side of Goya's personality and all his love affairs, political views are secondary to it. You can get a clear picture of what kind of a painter this spanish was. A little too formalistic maybe...Good job anyway. Pleasure for the eyes..