Customer Reviews

Romantics & Realists: Goya [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This fascinating documentary traces the life and work of one of the greatest painters of the 19th century. Francisco Goya was not only a great artist he was also a visonary whose work displayed a wide range of emotions. His artwork was many things to many people: dark, morbid, gloomy, sexual, beautiful, grotesque but always profound and very sincere. This video does not go in depth into his life but is a good effort that scratches the surface of his remarkable body of work. A panel of distinguished art historian discuss the myth and legend that was Goya and the legacy of his celebrated portraits.

Chald, if I didn't see it, I wouldn't have believed it. Goya drew a photo of someone lighting a lamp by flatuating on it! Today, some call that "fart lighting." Whoa! It was a trip seeing something like that in a serious documentary.

This work had many scholars providing interviews, as opposed to just having only two. The narrator has poor Spanish pronunciation. He said "Josefa" as if the E was a short English one. He said "Cadiz" as if the last syllable was a short English I. The documentary is filled with grainy reenactments that some may not be able to see. I found the inclusion distracting.

Like Beethoven and Edison, Goya went deaf. Those interested in famous people with disabilities may want to read more about that. Perhaps it would make for a good paper in a disability studies class. I'm shocked to learn that Goya was targeted by the Inquisition because I would have assumed that body died approximately 100 years before his adulthood. The narrator contrasted how other countries were embracing the Enlightenment while Spain ignored it. This reminded me of how Franco spent myriad years ruling Spain at a time when other countries staunchly rejected Fascism.

Most viewers know Goya for his formal, non-controversial works. This documentary proved that he made dark and risqu'e paintings that could still be seen as shocking.