Opulent, ambitious, and visually stunning, Konrad Wolf’s rare venture into historical costume drama charts the transformation of Spanish master Francisco de Goya—from detached court painter to defiant political artist pursued by the Inquisition. A lavish East German–Soviet co-production, shot on 70mm, featuring a tour de force performance by Lithuanian Solaris star Donatas Banionis.

Spain at the end of the 18th century. As a painter at the court of King Charles IV, Goya has achieved wealth and fame, securing a comfortable life for himself and his family. Though his portraits of the royal family are far from flattering and he engages in an affair with the Duchess of Alba, he remains a loyal subject and devout Catholic. Through his assistant Esteve, Goya is introduced to another side of Spanish society: the singer Maria Rosario and her circle of poets and intellectuals, whom he will later witness being cruelly sentenced by the Inquisition—an experience that leaves him deeply shaken. After a falling-out with the Duchess, Goya suffers a breakdown and is left nearly deaf. Though frail, he embarks on a journey across vast, barren landscapes to visit his mother. Upon returning to Madrid, he begins work on his Caprichos, satirical etchings targeting the Spanish nobility, politicians, and the Inquisition. Soon, he finds himself face to face with the Grand Inquisitor, who demands he denounce his works. Goya continues his work but eventually follows the advice to leave Madrid—possibly for good. As his solitary figure disappears towards the mountains, the Grand Inquisitor curses him and condemns him to eternal oblivion.
 
The film is based on Lion Feuchtwanger’s novel Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment (Goya oder der arge Weg zur Erkenntnis, 1951), written during his American exile under the shadow of early McCarthyism. Scripted by Angel Wagenstein—who had previously collaborated with Wolf on Stars—the film weaves together key real and fictional moments to tell a ‘story of conversion’—from indifferent to politically engaged artist and man of the people—echoing the transformative journeys of the protagonists in Stars and Lissy. According to Wagenstein, he and Wolf intended the critique of the Spanish monarchy and church as an indirect criticism of the “corrupt functionaries in charge of the GDR and the Socialist Bloc.” Nevertheless, SED officials approved the project in December 1967, viewing it as a way to reclaim great historical art and culture for the socialist individual and counter its appropriation by the capitalist film market. Wolf was initially hesitant to take on the project, partly due to its epic scale and the challenges of securing funding—which indeed proved extremely difficult. In hopes of creating a film for the international market, co-production partners in Paris, Munich, Hamburg, Madrid, and Artur Brauner’s CCC in West Berlin were approached. When these efforts failed, the film was ultimately co-produced with the Soviet Lenfilm.
Shot over eleven months in multiple countries—including street scenes in Madrid filmed in Dubrovnik—the production featured actors from seven socialist nations, including Lithuanian actor Donatas Banionis, best known from Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972), in the lead role, dubbed by Kurt Böwe. The film was shot on 70mm, doing justice to the grandiose production, the wide court and Inquisition scenes, as well as the panoramic landscape shots. Strong whites and deep blacks create striking contrasts, while a vibrant red—used to signal royalty, nobility, the Inquisition, and violence—catches the eye throughout the film. Toward the end, the film zooms in on Goya and his art, culminating in powerful extended montage sequences, crosscutting between close-ups of Goya’s paintings of the Dos de Mayo Uprising and his Disasters of War etchings, and Goya himself witnessing death and destruction.

GDR/USSR, 1971, 136 min, color, German with English subtitles
Directed by Konrad Wolf, assistant directors: Doris Borkmann, Ludmila Galba, Iris Gusner, Jürgen Klauß, Wladimir Sinilo, Wladimir Stepanow, Emilija Suchorukowa, script: Angel Wagenstein and Konrad Wolf, dramaturgy: Alexander Dymschitz and Walter Janka, editor: Alexandra Borowskaja, camera: Werner Bergmann and Konstantin Ryshow, set design: Alfred Hirschmeier and Waleri Jurkewitsch, costume design: Joachim Dittrich and Ludmila Schildknecht, music (score): Paco Ibanez, Faradsh Karajew, Kara Karajew. Production company: DEFA Studio for Feature Films, Lenfilm. With Donatas Banionis (German voice: Kurt Böwe), Ernst Busch, Fred Düren, Martin Flörchinger, Carmen Herold, Gustaw Holoubek, Rolf Hoppe, Wolfgang Kieling, Tatjana Lolova, Mieczyslaw Voit, Olivera Vuco, Arno Wyzniewski.