Frida Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)December 19th, 2002
Frida
Matinee
A biopic of an intense visual artist like Frida Kahlo could only be directed by a woman such as Julie Taymor, whose prior stage & screen work is so visual as to be iconic. Taymor shoots scenes rich with color and shadow, and she also segues brilliantly through some Kahlo paintings and bizarre but folksy animations. These portray what would in a conventional movie be conveyed through montage, but instead create a living painting out of the silver screen and add to the idea of Frida as one whose work is exclusively autobiographical.
Personally, I was ignorant of Kahlo's life history, and had only seen her colorful, angry looking paintings. Her story in this film is fascinating, from her innocent 1922 teenage years, her crippling 1925 accident, to her death in 1954. It is a story of how she came to be known, how her paintings content came to be, and her life with Diego Rivera. It is a love story as bizarre and personal as her paintings.
The cast is sprinkled with pretty-big-name actors like Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd, Ed Norton, and we cannot guess their future role in Frida's life, as they are famous faces who surely must get a lot of screen time. No matter what, the star of this film is Salma Hayek. Hayek is radiantly, fiercely beautiful despite Frida's signature chevron eyebrow, and you forget that she is anyone but Frida Kahlo as you watch her every move. Hayek fought for this project to be made, and it is clear that she is very passionate about her fellow countrywoman and her story being told. Hayek and Kahlo were both tiny, childlike spitfires, sensual and confident. Salma embodies Frida, and brings life to the surreal self portraits we see trapped in cheap tin frames. Trapped for so much of her life in beds or wheelchairs, when she can stand, she is dancing.
Frida spent most of her later life with Diego Rivera, famous communist, muralist, and polygamist, played with unapologetic gusto by Alfred Molina. Rivera and his work are always huge, epic, political, but only are personal as far as recording the images of his models and lovers. He is a selfish man who pretends to think of The People first but will not sacrifice any of his own ego toward betterment of all. Frida paints almost exclusively herself, yet she is generous, open, loving, and embodies the ideals that Rivera strives to express. When she paints her pain, it is her only real complaint. Frida has been quoted as saying, "I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best." It's a little long, but it is a small price to learn about such an interesting woman.
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