Movie Review Frida

Frida (2002) 

Directed by Julie Taymor

Written by Clancy Sigal, Gregory Nava

Starring Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Valeria Golino, Mia Maestro, Antonio Banderas

Release Date October 25th, 2002

Published November 2nd, 2002 

Less than two years ago, there were three Frida Kahlo film projects competing to get to the screen first. One of the films was to star Jennifer Lopez and, according to rumors, made it as far as costume and makeup tests. Another was to star Madonna and was rumored to have made it as far as location scouting. The one that finally was made stars Salma Hayek, is directed by Julie Taymor, and will go down as THE definitive telling of this brilliant artist's profound life.

In 1922 Mexico City, schoolgirl Frida Kahlo is joined with some male school friends in spying on visiting artist Diego Rivera as he paints a nude model in the school auditorium. It is the first time Rivera and Kahlo meet but certainly not the last. Before these two amazing artists finally come together, fate intervenes by way of a bus accident that almost kills Frida, but instead leaves her nearly crippled. After a year of painful operations, treatments, and endless days in bed, Frida is finally well enough to walk again and is ready to seek out Rivera to show him her art.

While she is desperate for Rivera's opinion, she cannot necessarily trust his positive assessment based on his well-known appetite for sleeping with beautiful young artists. Nevertheless, Rivera's honest love of her work begins a relationship that, though troubled, will last a long time.

Rivera, as played by a nearly unrecognizable Alfred Molina, is a proud Communist, politician and artist. Rivera is a passionate, talented artist with appetites as big as his talents are and Frida matches him all the way. However, no matter how much they respect and love each other Diego can't keep from cheating and, out of necessity for revenge, neither can Frida. Salma Hayek's performance is remarkable. Vibrant and intelligent she captures the essence of not only the legend of Kahlo but also her art. Hayek communicates from deep within herself from where the art that ended up on the canvas came. During the many years she was bedridden by her injuries, Kahlo lived inside her head, and her wild imagination, combined with her spirited life with Rivera, are what fueled her amazing works of art.

Director Julie Taymor (Titus) makes an awesome statement with this film, showing herself to be an artist to watch. Taymor--the renowned Broadway director--proves that she is also a film director we will be talking about for years to come. What is so astounding is that she takes a simple biopic and brings it to life with a wild imagination that Kahlo herself would have appreciated. The hardest part of making a film about an artist is how to show the work of art in progress. 

In Frida, Taymor chooses to go inside Kahlo's mind and allow the audience to see the painting as the artist imagined it. Through the use of some astonishing animation, the makeup and effects come to life and then melt on the canvas before our eyes. This is a truly imaginative and lovely idea, worked to near perfection.

I have always had a major pet peeve about films made in Mexico, which is that is that for some reason they always lack color. For the most part any film of Mexican or Spanish heritage seems to be washed out in a brown hue that makes everything look like it is covered in dirt. This film does not do that. Instead, it takes advantage of color, painting the screen with gorgeous color from the architecture to the costumes and, of course, to the paintings.

The film is not perfect. For one thing, I was disappointed that it was done in English instead of Spanish, a decision that seemingly was made entirely based on box office. For the purpose of artistic integrity, a film that centers around Mexican artists should be done in Spanish. It seems that Miramax, the film's producers and distributors, did not trust the audience to be intelligent enough to appreciate a film with subtitles, and accordingly, we get a film shot in Mexico City with street signs in the native language where the characters speak English.

That minor complaint aside, Frida is a remarkable film; truly beautiful and magnificent. Frida Kahlo's life was one that was well lived and well portrayed by Salma Hayek who deserves an Oscar nomination. Frida is one of the best films of 2002.