82 year-old Franciso de Goya (Paco Rabal), living in exile in Bordeaux with the last of his lovers, Leocadia Zorrilla de Weiss (Eulalia Ramun), reconstucts the main events of his life for his daughter Rosario (Dafne Fernandez) - a life in which political upheaval, poisoned passions and the ecstasy of fame folow swiftly one upon the other. He remembers how the young, ambitious Goya (Jose Coronado) boldly fights 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 (Maribel Verdu), a woman who changed both Goya and the history of her times, whose life was cut short by the poison of conspiracy.
Little by little "Goya in Bourdeaux" 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 Argonese painter discovers a new world of creation in his dark paintings and his "caprichos".