A very powerful story... epic in proportion... and very well told.

Really enjoyed the strong cast (especially Barden and Portman -- who essentially plays three characters), locale, and cinematography. // A fictionalized story involving a real person (Goya), with an interesting representation of the living conditions, events, and politics of the period (which spanned the Spanish Inquisition, French Revolution, and subsequent invasion of Spain by Napoleon). // Restricted rating due to scenes of torture and other graphic violence, rather than nudity and sex.

Interesting movie, but extremely depressing. If you like happy-endings, this is not a film for you. There is NO way a girl could have suffered and survived the torture the main character endured. A strong man might have, but not a girl like the frail Portman. This is one of the low keys of the film for me, since I don’t like movies that pretend to be accurate and portray the most unlikely scenes. Barden, as always, loves to play the nutty type look; no news there.

Engaging and extremely powerful performances by Bardem and Portman. Skarsgard's performance as Goya is understated which works well within this particular story line Excellent make up artistry . Goya's artwork truly grasped and represented the way the common people saw their lives as dictated by the church and the inquisition.

Well acted and great theme to work with, but ultimately a disappointing film. Javier Bardem is terrific. Natalie Portman is good. The guy that plays Goya is okay. The movie does a good job depicting 19th century Spain and the insanity of the Inquisition. Q: How does Randy Quaid keep getting work?

Very good period piece about the spanish inquisition during the 1790-1800's

Elaborate, plodding, repulsive costume drama utterly fails in its attempts to construct an effective plot around the Spanish Inquisition. The result is too much pathos & politics but not enough of a story line. Any connection it makes to the profound artistic genius of Francisco Goya is also wishful at best.

Goya's Ghosts (2006) *** 113 min. directed by Milos Foreman and starring Javier Bardem (“No Country For Old Men”), Natalie Portman, and Stellan Starsgard (as Franceso Goya, the painter) – This film introduces us to Francesco Goya, a painter during the Catholic Church’s darkest hours; specifically, the Spanish Inquisition. Goya’s story in this film is almost a backdrop to the more interesting storyline (i.e. the arrest of his muse, Ines (played by Natalie Portman), for heretical reasons – apparently, she, a Catholic, was connected to practicing Judaism because she didn’t eat pork served to her at an inn?!?). Go figure. The story also has Father Lorenzo (played by Javier Bardem), who is blackmailed by Ines’ father to help in releasing her from the dungeons. How does he do this? By forcing him to question the Church’s practice of using torture as a means to revealing the truth about a suspect’s beliefs. I liked this picture because it graphically depicted members of the Church’s perversion of its power during that time. Was the Church itself wrong for its practices or were the members of the Church, themselves, in the wrong? I believe the latter to be a fair assessment (though this film tries to paint the Church itself as corrupt). Where the film fails is in its ability to contain a story within two hours with the many events taking place creating confusion with chronological history of that time – we witness the French invasion of Spain, the British invasion, the Church’s control and at one point, I wasn’t sure who was in charge. The other place it fails is in its failure to conclude a storyline it began – for instance, Goya’s drawings were reviewed by the Church’s clergy and found to be satanical in nature – a great offensive (for some reason, this was never followed up – instead, we jump to Ines’ tragedy). The film works because of its elaborate sets depicting 18th century Spain, the costumes, feel, situations and dialogue. Finally, the ending is not your typical Hollywood ending so be forewarned.