Film Review 1. Frida.

Directed by      Julie Taymor

Produced by    Sarah Green

                        Salma Hayek

                        Jay Polstein

Screenplay by  Clancy Sigal

                        Diane Lake

                        Gregory Nava

                        Anna Thomas

Based on Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo

                          by Hayden Herrera

Starring:           Salma Hayek

                       Alfred Molina

                       Antonio Banderas

           

            The film ‘Frida” was adapted by Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas from the book Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. It was directed by Julie Taymor. It won Oscars for Best Makeup and Best Original Music Score.

            The names Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo are tightly linked in the history of 20th century art. Kahlo was known for paintings that were profound and greatly introspective. Rivera was a great muralist and was known for cubism as well as his extreme left- wing politics. FRIDA details the life of Kahlo and her turbulent relationship with Rivera.

            Frida covers their affair, their marriage, and their careers together. Each has affairs, though Diego goes in for dalliances a lot more than Frida is willing to tolerate. The film includes their travels to New York and the famous Rockefeller Plaza mural incident. When Leon Trotsky (Geoffrey Rush) flees Stalin and travels to Mexico Rivera and Kahlo play host to him and become involved in his fate.

            Sadly, the story of the two great artists does not really break much new ground. The relationship between Rivera and Kahlo is strongly reminiscent of that between John Reed and Louise Bryant in reds. Director Julie Taymor is not always sympathetic to Kahlo, who has her own affairs but is hypocritically enraged by Rivera's philandering. Kahlo allows herself to be hurt by it. Also, one feels through the entire film that as interesting as Kahlo was, the real story to be told would have been that of Rivera. It is generally the verdict of history that Rivera was the better of the two artists and the film frequently leaves us wanting to know more of him.

            What makes Firda's life story interesting? The fact that it's characterized by so much tragedy and heartbreak. Early in the story, Frida is a young schoolgirl who suffers from a terrible trolley accident, leaving her with multiple fractures and a metal rod impaling her lower body. While recuperating in a near full-body cast, Frida spends her time painting in her bed. Obviously, this is the beginning of what would be a life of tragedy feeding her artistic passion.

            I can add that the direction is extremely impressive throughout – Taymor (Titus) uses a variety of animation techniques and 3D effects to literally bring the paintings to life. Similarly, the horrific trolley crash sequence is filmed in an unusual way, ending as a riot of colours and noise.

                I can say that this film is a rather conventional one. Still, there is one feature that makes this movie interesting: special effects. There are scenes that depict Frida's paintings with interesting animations. For example, there's a painting that puts Salma Hayek's Frida in place of the actual painted Frida, but has much resemblance to the original. There's another painting with two Fridas, with Salma Hayek in the place of one Frida. The result is an image that looks as if the actress is meeting the painter as a tribute. All of these special effects scenes do help one understand how Frida's emotional turmoil ends up on the canvas.