Spain in the late 18th century. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes embarks on a successful career as the court painter to Charles IV. His paintings hang in many palaces, and he even portrays the Queen on horseback, as well as her entire family. This is set against the backdrop of the Inquisition, which is terrorising the country. The married Goya has a passionate affair with the Duchess of Alba, but he stands up to her arrogance. His paintings become increasingly dark, much to the displeasure of the Grand Inquisitor, who is also mercilessly combating the growing resistance of the people. Ultimately, Goya is forced to flee to France to save his life. Konrad Wolf’s film is probably the most opulent production ever realised by DEFA and is rich in bitter contemporary allusions to the relationship between art and state power.

The madness is already hinted at in the first scenes: a procession moves through Madrid, with hooded men of the Inquisition surrounded by penitents and flagellants, while on the edge, jugglers and street hawkers go about their daily business. The 18th century is coming to a close, but the spirit of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment doesn’t seem to have reached as far as Spain. Goya, promoted to court painter, dresses up for a reception at the court of King Charles IV. The painter still behaves rather opportunistically, and is sometimes bitterly mocked by his friend and collaborator Agustín Esteve, who takes him on an evening tour of the city. In a tavern, Goya hears the singer Maria Rosario. Her songs are full of pain, turmoil and passion. He wants to paint her at all costs. Goya meets the opposition activists who surround her. He will see them again later in the dock of the Inquisition.

Goya paints Queen Maria Luisa on horseback. Later, he will make portraits of the entire royal family. The king is displeased with the paintings. He recognises the critical realist undertones found within them, but the monarch bows down to his queen’s judgement. At the same time, the married Goya has a passionate affair with the Duchess of Alba, who has declared her love for him, but also humiliates him constantly. The liaison is concealed neither from the royal house, nor from the Grand Inquisitor. Goya’s first summons serves as a means of intimidation and he is forced to watch the conviction of his friends from the opposition. His beloved young daughter dies and the painter blames himself. Goya manages to pick himself up again, when he travels to the south of the country with the Duchess of Alba. However, the pair soon split up. Goya, who has gradually lost his hearing, is engulfed in nightmares, which he tries to integrate into his increasingly grim paintings, much to the dismay of the Grand Inquisitor. The painter is summoned one last time and is asked to “renounce” his paintings. Goya is left with only one choice: to flee to France.

The film’s production costs come close to those of the glorious epic films. Yet, Konrad Wolf’s directing is most exciting when he reverts to the methods employed by a chamber drama. “The scenes with the Grand Inquisitor are a brilliant example of dialectic cinema with a Brechtian format. The film on the whole advocates for the freedom of art from state interference.” (Ulrich Gregor). And he takes it even further when he describes how this interference takes place with the use of barely hidden analogies. The apparent omniscience of the Inquisition must rely on a network of informers, which is reminiscent of the Stasi in the GDR. After Goya is asked to appear in front of the Grand Inquisitor, he has to leave the building via corridors that lead him through dungeons and vaults where chained prisoners are kept. The methods of intimidation do their job perfectly. The irrationality of the Inquisition reminds us of all the ideological fanatics and fundamentalists who refuse to see the reality and tolerate art only if it’s of service to the system. The victims are mainly artists and intellectuals. This can’t have seemed too strange to viewers in the GDR of the seventies.

Production Period

1970/1971

Production Year

1971

color

color

Aspect Ratio

1:2,20 (Sovscope 70)

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Feature Film

Genre

Drama, Biography / Portrait, History Film

Topic

Visual Arts / Design / Photography, Violence, Love, Social Engagement

Available Media

DVD, DCP, Blu-ray Disc

Original Version

German (de)

DVD

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Indonesisch (id), Romanian (ro), Czech (cs)

DCP

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Indonesisch (id), Lithuanian (lt), Czech (cs)

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

English (en), French (fr), Portuguese (Brazil) (pt), Indonesisch (id)