Goya in Bordeaux [Goya en Burdeos] **** (1999, Franciso Rabal, Dafne Fernandez, Maribel Verdù, José Coronado) – Classic Movie Review 4126

Writer-director Carlos Saura, one of the world’s great film-makers, hauntingly explores the life, loves and work of the artist Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) in this 1999 Spanish biographical drama, Goya in Bordeaux [Goya en Burdeos].

This ravishing film is one of the most gorgeous films in recent memory, thanks to the dazzling images of three-Oscar-winning photographer Vittorio Storaro, and also the production designs of Pierre-Louis Thévenet.

Franciso Rabal stars as the deaf and ill 82-year-old Goya, who lives with his last lover in Bordeaux exile in protest at the oppressive regime of Ferdinand VII. He reconstructs the main events of his life as a young man (played by José Coronado) for his daughter Rosario (Dafne Fernandez), especially his doomed passion for the Duchess of Alba (Maribel Verdù).

Also in the cast are Eulalia Ramon, Maribel Verdu, José Maria Pu and Saturnino Garcia.

Music by Couperin, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.

The renowned Spanish film director Carlos Saura died of respiratory failure at home on 10 February 2023, at the age of 91.

He is best known for The Hunt (1965), Cousin Angelica (1973), Cría Cuervos (1975), Mama Turns 100 (1979), Ay Carmela (1990), Tango (1998) and his Flamenco trilogy – Blood Wedding, Carmen and El amor brujo.

Saura won many awards including: Silver Bear in the Berlin Festival for The Hunt in 1965, and for Peppermint Frappé in 1967. Special Jury Awards in Cannes for Cousin Angelica in 1973, and for Cría Cuervos in 1975. Also, the film Mama Turns 100 was Oscar nominated in 1979 as the best foreign film.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4126

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