Goya - or the bad way of knowledge
Goya , also Goya - or the terrible path to knowledge is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Lion Feuchtwanger by Konrad Wolf from 1971.
action
The painter Francisco de Goya achieved respect and prosperity through his talent and creative power. His clients come from the most important houses in Madrid and so he gradually comes to the royal court of Charles IV. He is passionately drawn to the Duchess Alba and at the same time hates the decadent aristocrat in her. He believes in the king and the church, enjoys his position at court. His colleague and friend Esteve shows him the contradictions of this closed world and leads him to the simple people of the country. In a Madrid tavern he meets the singer Maria Rosario; later he has to see her being condemned by the Inquisition . He is deeply shocked by the song that Maria has to recite as proof of her guilt. The further he penetrates into the life of the people and draws motifs for his art from it, the greater his inner pain becomes in view of the conditions in the country. His relationship with the Alba gains in self-destruction and so he suffers a sudden hearing loss . He turns his back on the farm and travels completely deaf to his mother's home in Aragon . With the help of his companion Esteve, he finds his way back to his work, which leads him to turn away from the values of society and the church . He is plagued by demons whom he recognizes in their deeds and their social influence and which flow into his work. He himself falls into the clutches of the Inquisition; the Grand Inquisitor implores him to refuse this idea. But Goya is firmly established in the belief that the misery and the horror arise from the circumstances themselves and remains convinced of the truth of his pictures. He chooses exile.
Reviews
"Elaborate German-Soviet co-production with artistically sometimes excellent scenes, but overall, due to ideologically unreflective characterizations, not entirely accurate and psychologically unconvincing."
background
Shot on 70 mm, in two parts, over a year preparation time, 3000 costumes, wagon loads of props, eleven months of shooting from September 1969 to August 1970, locations in Yugoslavia (Dubrovnik etc.), Bulgaria, the Crimea (Yalta), in the Caucasus, actors from eight countries (most of them played in their mother tongue), two language versions (Russian and German), music recordings in Leningrad , dubbing in Berlin-Johannisthal .
Originally, Kurt Böwe was intended for the title role, but had to give way to the internationally better known Banionis. As a “replacement” he was allowed to dub it and take on the lead role in the follow-up film The Naked Man on the Sports Field (which is considered a lighter, more contemporary variation on the same theme). Wolfgang Kieling had already gone back to Germany at the time of the dubbing work, which is why he was dubbed by Hans-Dieter Leinhos.
The song Winds of the People Carry Me will be sung at the end of the film, which is based on a poem by Miguel Hernández . This poem was composed during the Spanish Civil War and now fits back into the time of Goya and the Spanish War of Independence . In addition, two pictures of Goya are faded in at the end ( The Colossus (1810) and the Free Balloon (1818/1819)).
Awards
- National Prize 1st Class: Angel Wagenstein (1971)
- VII Moscow International Film Festival (1971): Special Jury Prize
- Art Prize of the GDR (1971): Donatas Banionis, Rolf Hoppe, Fred Düren
- National First Class Prize (1971): Konrad Wolf, Werner Bergmann, Konstantin Ryshow, Wladimir Sinilo
Web links
- Goya - or the evil path of knowledge in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Goya - or the bad path of knowledge at filmportal.de
- Goya - or the bad path of knowledge at the DEFA Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ Goya - or the terrible way of knowledge. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 3, 2017 .
- ↑ filmmuseum-potsdam.de ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ defa.de
