Production comments

"Goya in Bordeaux" brought together not only some of Spain's best acting talent, but also a major technical and artistic crew - the kind capable of mounting such a spectacular Production. Carlos Saura united several major professionals (Vittorio Storaro, Pierre-Louis ThËvenet, Pedro Moreno) to bring alive his personal vision of Goya's words, but he also took the risk of putting together a complex shoot, most of which took place on an enormous set with transparent sliding panels. Detailed planning and a complicated pre-Production process meant the shoot was complete after only nine weeks. "90% of the shoot took place in the studio, where we reproductionuced streets, palaces and nightmares," says Vittorio Storaro. "This was because a lot of the story happens inside Goya's head. But there are other parts where a sense of reality was important - as for example when he speaks of his relationship with the Duchess of Alba - because this is a more complex part of the story. All of his creativity, his fantasy, his feelings and emotions - they're all there when he talks about her, and we needed verisimilitude and intensity.

Carlos Saura adds: In staging terms, "Goya in Bordeaux" goes further down the line than "Tango." Space, and above all the light which makes up the space, are essential. The whole thing has been conceived as two large blocks: the acting and the lighting. The light is inseparable from our conception of the set. That's why Storaro was essential. He's a master of lighting and here, on an extremely complex project, he's shown it once again.

With regard to the artistic direction, Storaro points out: We were able to count on the valuable help of ThËvenet, who knows the period so well, We worked with new materials, with stamped plastic, projections, surfaces on which paintings or fragments of paintings are reproductionuced. The scenic space was like a huge game where the pieces were all mobile, so that at any point we could construct a bedroom, a drawing room, a corridor, or make a painting or engraving appear or disappear on the wallsÖ Another of the film's most visually spectacular moments - the staging of the dramatic "Disasters of War" - involves the popular Catalan action theatre group La Fura dels Baus. La Fura has gained worldwide recognition with shows which included the staging of the opening and closing ceremonies of Barcelona's 1992 Olympic Games. J¸rgen M¸ller of La Fura explains: We prepared a mise-en-scene based on the 17 engravings, which was shot as a single image. We've incorporated the elements of violence which are so dominant in Goya's work.

Costume designer Pedro Moreno explains what the Production was all about: There was a two or three month research stage. Then we started to create the characters. It is a story with a plot, as the director says, but it's not realism. I don't like working on realistic projects, because I don't believe that memory is ever the same as reality. We wanted to avoid betraying the spirit of Goya, but neither did we want to have cliched "Goya-esque" images. The film explores one of European history's most turbulent chapters. To underline the importance of the emotional shifts in Goya throughout his live, Roque BaÒos - composer of the music for two of Spanish cinema's biggest box office successes, "Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley" and "Muertos de risa" - has written a score which is rich in influences which run from Spanish popular music ("seguidiyas" and "jotas") to the kinds of piece which were written for the 18th century court. There are echoes of Boccherini, Haydn, Beethoven, and of the romantic composers Chopin, Schubert and Brahms. In musical terms, it was an extraordinary period in Europe, and Carlos Saura wished the film to reflect this.