The Naked Maja

"The Naked Maja" has beautiful sets and costumes, but only a passing acquaintance with reality. About the best that can be said is that it features some impressive views of Miss Gardner's lovely bosom.

Diego Velázques (1599-1660) painted one of the earliest known Spanish nudes, the Rokeby Venus, featured as the "loot" in the film "The Happy Thieves."

About two centuries after Velázques, Francisco Goya 1746-1828) painted a short, plump nude maja (street girl) reclining on a bed. When this picture was criticized as obscene, he painted the same girl again, in the same position but dressed, which makes her more, rather than less suggestive. The chunky girl in the "maja" paintings does not resemble Goya's portraits of the Duchess of Alba in any way.

When I was last in the Prado the two majas were hanging on either side of the door to the room housing the portrait of King Carlos IV and family – and the queen was definitely not the lovely young woman who played the part in "The Naked Maja."

Goya also painted two portraits of his very close friend, the tall, angular Duchess of Alba, in one she is dressed in white and in the other, in black. The 'black portrait' shows the duchess pointing imperiously at the ground where the words "solo Goya" ("only Goya") can be seen written in the sand at her feet.

Milos Forman's "Goya's Ghosts" (2006) is a far better film and much closer to historical fact. Goya's passing affair with the Duchess of Alba, who was certainly not the girl in the Maja paintings, does not figure in the latter film.

"The Naked Maja" is a fictionalized account of the life of the Spanish painter, Francisco Goya (Anthony Franciosa). It mostly centers on his relationship with the Contessa de Alba (Ava Gardner)...a relationship whose depth is really unknown today. Yes, we know that they were on good terms...but whether she was ever his lover or posed for the famous painting "The Naked Maja" (in the Prado museum in Spain), is really unknown. I really don't mind that the writers took liberties about their relationship...but there is a HUGE problem with the script. In real life, before he met the Contessa, Goya became DEAF! This is never mentioned nor alluded to in any way...and making a deaf man non-deaf is ridiculous. I don't mind some creative changes...but making him hearing just doesn't make sense. Add to this that the film is incredibly dull and listless, then you have a movie I really didn't like. I think my being an ex-history teacher accounts for a lot of this...as well as my having deaf family members. Overall, the writer forgot to do ANY homework and the film is sluggish.

"The Naked Maja" is one of my favorite movies because of the historical content, and it stars two of my favorite actors, Anthony Franciosa as the idealistic artist Francisco Goya and Ava Gardner as the ill-fated Duchess of Alba.

The story begins before 1800 when the works of philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau are changing the social thought of Europe. According to Rousseau's philosophy, all people have dignity and worth and should have freedom of thought. The philosophy also has introduced belief in personal fulfillment, freedom of expression, and self determination, which ultimately led to the French and American Revolutions in the late 18th century and revolutions throughout Europe by 1850.

Because the Duchess of Alba embraces Rousseau's philosophy, she is condemned by the "old school" of monarchist Spain that clings to old ideas of a rigid social class and dictatorial views.

Upon seeing the film, the viewer might be inspired to look at prints of Goya's works and see how he expressed ideas of equality and compassion for humanity in his art. By doing so, one will understand the film in a greater context.

A well narrated film in sensational technicolor, where Ava Gardner shows her charm as actress. Her famous legend in Spain is very adecuate for this film. An magnificent world with wine, bulls, spanish music and the fabulous pictures by Diego Velazquez, a great spanish painter whose picture named "the naked maja" builds a magic legend in Spain. Curious and excellent film. And an inmortal woman: Ava Gardner...

I'm an avid Ava Gardner fan, but this film ranks near the bottom of her career efforts, with 'The Bible', 'The Blue Bird', etc. 'The Naked Maja' is beautiful enough to look at, but is poorly directed, narrated, and edited. The story of the Duchess of Alba, could have been the basis for a much more interesting film, but this film is a lesson in missed cinematic opportunities. Ava, more commonly called 'the most beautiful animal in the world', possessed a raw, exciting sexuality, that provided the few sparks, in an otherwise lifeless film. I definitely did not consider her the most beautiful women in films, but certainly one of the most sensuous. This was not a major film, and Anthony Franciosa was not a major star; even though I loved his work in 'A Hatful Of Rain'. I wanted to love this film, when it was released, and I was hopelessly smitten with Miss Gardner. Ultimately, I had to admit that it was not as good as some of her other disappointing films, like 'The Sun Also Rises', 'The Little Hut', 'Bhowani Junction', just to name a few. 'Mogambo', 'The Barefoot Contessa', 'Showboat', and 'The Night of the Iguana', were my personal favorite Ava Gardner films. Ava Gardner would rank right behind Hedy Lamarr and Elizabeth Taylor, as the most beautiful women in the world. Costumes for Ava, in 'The Naked Maja', were quite good.