Goya's Ghosts

The lives of a great artist, a corrupted holy man, and a beautiful woman cross paths at a crucial moment in history in this epic-scale historical drama. Near the end of the 18th century, Francisco Goya is a gifted but controversial artist whose provocative and often satirical work has earned the enmity of the Spanish government as well as the Catholic Church, who hold tremendous power as the Inquisition rages. Surprisingly, Brother Lorenzo, a monk involved in the Inquisition, has hired Goya to paint a portrait of himself, and to prove to the Inquisitor General he is not in cahoots with the renegade artist, Lorenzo targets Ines, one of Goya's favourite models, as a possible heretic. Under torture from Lorenzo, Ines signs a false confession, and her wealthy and powerful father, Toms Bilbata, offers Lorenzo a taste of his own medicine by brow-beating him into signing a document confessing that his mother was an ape. Lorenzo flees Spain as his reputation lies in tatters, and Goya earns greater infamy as he paints a wildly unflattering portrait of Queen Mara Luisa under commission from her husband, King Carlos IV , but Ines remains in prison because of her coerced confession. Fifteen years later, Lorenzo has become a follower of the Enlightenment, and returns to Spain as Napoleon's forces storm the nation and the Inquisition finally collapses. He attempts to liberate Ines from prison but a shocking discovery awaits him. (CinEast)