Synopsis
GOYA IN BORDEAUX, written and directed by Carlos Saura, explores the experiences and artistic evolution of the man considered to be the most important artist of the modern era, Francisco Goya. The final months of his life form the background to a story which is rooted in his evolution as a man, his work and in his private obsessions.Living in exile with the last of his lovers, Leocadia Zorilla de Weiss, 82-year-old Francisco Goya reconstructs the main events of his life for his daughter Rosario. It is a life in which political upheaval, poisoned passions and the ecstasy of fame follow swiftly one upon the other. He remembers how the young, ambitious Goya boldly fought his way up the slippery slope of the court of Charles IV, where fame and fortune live side by side with palace intrigue, seductions and lies. He recounts his only true love, the Duchess of Alba, a woman who changed both Goya and the history of her times, whose life was cut short by the poison of conspiracy.
Little be little GOYA IN BORDEAUX unravels the mysteries of an artist and genius who never abandoned his deep concern for his country and for his people. The era of light and colour of the Bourbon court opens a pathway for the same Goya who, at the age of 46, went deaf - a turning-point in his work. While it was becoming clear in Spain that the days of absolutism, under the new pressures of the enlightenment, were numbered, the Aragonese painter discovered a new world of creation in his dark paintings and his "caprichos".
