Frida
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Movie Reviews of Frida
Movie Review: An Evocative Intersection of Art, Life, and Politics
Summary: 5 Stars
Knowing what the rest of the 20th century was to bring, it's very hard for us to look back and comprehend that enigmatic period between the World Wars in all its contradictory impulses. The lives of artists during periods of transition are often the most illuminating distillations of those contradictory impulses. So it was with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, who stood at the crossroads of so many forces and events -- Trotsky's fleeing the descent of communism into terrorism, the art of social realism foundering on the demands of its capitalist patrons, the uneasy compromises of conservative Latin culture with the undercurrents of its inherent sensuality.
This movie virtually throbs with the colors, sounds, and urgent seekings of an era that knew an old world had ended and that a new one was trying to be born. It was a prolonged birthing, and we now know it was to bear a demon. Artists seem more attuned to the forebodings of disaster than the rest of us, and this brooding sense of impending doom is the palpable shadow that dances over the vivid color, boisterous motion, and fleeting joys of Frida Kahlo's life.
This movie has its flaws, but they pale into insignificance against its achievement in evoking the sense of an era that has never been satisfactorily explained by historians or social scientists. You can add up all the things that went wrong between World War I and World War II. You can take a stab at cause and effect. You can blame the winners or the losers of World War I. But it's one of those eras for which you simply had to have been there to grasp what it was all about. Two movies have helped us get there. "Cabaret" was one. "Frida" is the other. It's quite an achievement.
Movie Review: Visual and emotional treat
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently watched this for the second time after initially watching it some years ago and was even more impressed the second time around. While the reasons might not interest anyone but me, the fact is, this movie touched me and moved me deeply. For starters, it is a gorgeous film to watch. The seamless integration of live actors into Kahlo's stunning and evocative work is a magical joy to behold and adds even more depth to the artist's brutally candid art. Secondly, Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina deliver top notch performances and most impressive may have been Hayek who is on screen nearly the entire time. I can forgive the vanity hiring of Ashley Judd and Edward Norton as their portrayals are less than the aforementioned two, but this is a minor issue. Lastly, regarding the dvd features and what-not, the second disc is mostly behind the scenes featurettes on the making of the movie whereas the special features on the first disc have lengthy interviews that are illuminating and candid while demonstrating the love Hayek and Taymor have for Kahlo.
I am not a Frida Kahlo scholar by any means nor do I wish to convey any knowledge of her art, life, politics, or anything else. I know that I find her paintings to be vivid and mesmerizing and that's enough for me. I am grateful to this movie for giving me an introduction to an artist whose work I have grown fascinated with and I am furthermore glad that I have a little knowledge, albeit Hollywoodized, of this remarkable human being. My interest has been piqued by this sumptuous love letter to Frida and I will continue to enjoy this movie and my exploration of her work and her life. I hope you find a similar experience.
Movie Review: As rich as her paintings
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read two biographies of Frida and studied her paintings closely, and totally disagree with a certain Washington Post reviewer who wrote that the film failed to capture the delicate texture of Frida's life. To the contrary, the film was teeming with wonderful visual references to Frida's multifaceted and colorful life, from the family members, pets and belongings she held dear, to the unique clothing and jewelry for which she was known, and the neighborhoods and houses where she lived. Perhaps the Post reviewer was not sufficiently familiar with the context to appreciate these details, which were recreated with such passion and fidelity that for me the film needed little else. I also felt the film effectively portrayed the torment Frida suffered over her lifelong love for Diego Rivera, (...), yet emotionally and professionally supportive, husband. That Diego's art overshadowed hers for most of their lives was of far less consequence to her than his marital infidelities. I personally would have enjoyed seeing the film do more with Frida's series of magical, and often tragic, self-portraits; this is a woman who suffered such crushing chronic back pain (due to a horrific bus accident) that she often painted while bedridden in the hospital for months on end, and at other times had to tie herself into a chair to paint. Painting was her therapy and she literally painted her love and her pain in images of herself, Diego, her broken body parts, and the plants, objects and creatures that brought her comfort. But I happily forgave those shortcomings for the pleasure of seeing this spectacular artist and human being brought to life in Ms. Hayek's vivid production.Movie Review: Life Inside a Blue House and a Broken Body...
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm one of those people who already knew "everything there was to know" about Frida Kahlo. By the time I was 13, there was nothing I wanted more in the world than to be an artist, although I didn't know of any female artists with the impact of a Picasso or a Matisse. Then, at 14, I saw Frida Kahlo's work and something inside of me absolutely danced with joy. She painted her own face! She painted her own birth! She painted her own feet! It was the most fabulous revelation ever to a 14 yr old girl.
I was scared to see this movie, like you are when you love a book and know they may have butchered it to make a film. I didn't want my vision of Kahlo destroyed. I didn't want to see the pretty version of her life. It was as painful as it was passionate. The disappointments and tragedies were as real as the successes.
Something inside of me danced with joy again as I watched this film. It's impossible to completely capture a life in such a short space of time; but, this movie did a wonderful job at capturing the spirit of Kahlo: her life, her art, her love for Diego.
It is a beautiful film. I truly fell in love with it. It reminded me of the passion we are capable of feeling for art, politics, unfaithful lovers...a passion Kahlo kept for most of her life. The bright burning flame. In that way, it is an inspirational look at the life of the artist.
Even if you are not as familiar with Frida, you can still enjoy this film, this story. In terms of a great story, her life was better than fiction.
Movie Review: Salma Kahlo
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw a Biography segment on A&E Channel on Salma Hayek of whom I was vaguely aware. She was shopping her biographical Frida Kahlo idea around Hollywood. Thank God she did not allow them overlay what I call the Hollywood Formula onto her idea. She finally got Julie Taymor (Lion King stage play) to direct it, and what direction it was! The colors! The moods, everything was so Mexican! Taymor?s experience with puppetry was put to dazzling use in the entire film. I was blown away by her dream-like, or (should I say) nightmare-like sequence of doctors and spines, revealing the poignancy of Frida?s physical pain and hospital stays. It was comic and horrific, harking back to Day-of-the-Dead comi-tragic imagery.
Kayak?s courage in attempting some daring scenes and appropriate nudity caused me to admire this beautiful model. There is an erotic spirituality about this film. It is very woman-like, also with remnants of what among poets and fiction writers used to be called Magical Realism, peculiar to Latino writers of this century.
I enjoyed Frida?s manly qualities and wondered if they really belonged to her or merely of Salma?s interpretation of her. When Frida dances with Ashley Judd, I felt the sexual tension coming from Salma but not from Judd. In an interview, Judd said that scene made her uncomfortable. That moment was lacking for me, possibly because I have seen real tango dancers in Argentina with the sensually arrogant machismo both the male and female dancers exude.
For the rest of this review. (...)