Frida

Rating:
Summary: Instant Classic!
Review: Salma Hyak looks amazingly like the actual Frida Kahlo in this wonderful testiment to one of the most misunderstood and fascinating personalities of the 20th century! Frida was the victim of a bus accident that nearly crippled her and left her in agony throughout her life. As a result, Frida saw the dark side of life and painted some of the most amazing abstract works of art that I have ever seen.

Frida formed a bond with the famous political painter, Diego Rivera. The two share a stormy relationship and eventually marry. Frida overlooks most of Diego's extramarital affairs until Diego goes after Frida's sister. Thus, she feels betrayed and leaves him.

Frida herself is a kinky persona sharing relationships with both men and women. There is a very erotic scene of Frida dancing tango with another woman.

Frida eventually meets Leon Trotsky and the two united by their socialist political views end up having an affair. When Trotsky is murdered, Frida and Rivera are suspected but are later exonerated.

In a touching scene in the movie, an incredibly ill Frida is brought in her bed to attend her own art exhibit at which her talent is expounded to a crowd by Rivera.

This movie should not be missed and anyone with an appreciation for good art would love it!

Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: Some have complained about Mexican art icons speaking English with accents. Frankly, this did not bother me. I found the photography so beautiful and the acting so impressive that language was secondary. The hot bright colors of Mexico and Frida's reflective art dazzled. Now bioflicks have come a long way. In Frida we get a look at her sexual preferences rather than her motivation. Her German-Jew father and Mexican mother in early scenes do not give us Freudian aficionados much to go on. Salma Hayeck is built like a brick (...) house, so her nude scenes and the nudes of other Latin ladies were thrilling for the guys. The lady viewers might say they were artistic. I don't have a beef here. I'm commenting that this movie is not for children. Frida is quite active for a woman wracked with pain and when she dances with her girlfriend, I worried she would snap like a twig. I suppose Hollywood thinks that too much sex and too much drugs or drink, make for a wonderful life. Unfortunately I read misery rather than debauchery. Still, captivating and I recommend.

Rating:
Summary: A remarkable remarkable movie
Review: This movie is intense, passionate and visually breathtaking. The sheer breadth of responses to Julie Taymor's beautifully presented work is indicative of the controversy (at least among gringo movie-goers) surrounding Taymor's art, Frida's life and work and Mexican history in the early twentieth century.

As an appreciater (but not an avid fan) of Frida's work, I found the movie to be a compelling introduction to Frida's life and her artistic creativity. I was initially unsure about whether Salma Hayek could pull this role off but she certainly does. Her portrayl of Frida is confident, passionate, sensual and creative. Hayek deserves enormous credit for her dramatic work in capturing all these aspects of the real Frida Kahlo and for taking on the role of producing this movie: Let's face it, when have we seen Latinas in Hollywood as anything other than gangbangers, hoochies or Mi Familia-style madres?

The emotional core of the movie: that loyalty and fidelity are not necessarily the same, is thought-provoking and slyly subversive at the same time. It's a thoroughly intelligent look at a complex subject that has not been well-explored in previous US movie offerings. One suspects that part of its lack of appeal to the mainstream lies in this one area alone. In my experience, many people prefer myth to reality in emotional situations even more than in intellectual ones.

Much has been made of Taymor's ability to create visually arresting art and this movie is chock full of wonderful examples of her ability. From manic Quay brothers cartoons to the slow motion agony of the bus wreck that cripples Frida as a girl, to the hilarious interpolations of Diego as another giant of the early 20th century atop the Empire State Building and the stunning recreations of Frida's paintings as tableaux vivants, I can only say: This film is worth ... a pop for the visuals alone. Forget Star Wars. This is a real work of art.

Visually, the movie also captures the brilliance and color of Mexico city at the turn of the century. My girlfriend used to work just around the corner from Frida's house and would go there fairly often (this was long before she -Frida- became a trendy Madonna accessory) and she says that the house and all its details (woodwork, furniture, paintings) were deadly accurate (except for some dimensional changes to the courtyard).

Complementing Hayek's performance were a truly excellent supporting cast. In particular, Alfred Molina's superb Diego Rivera, Valeria Golino's Lupe and Roger Rees as Frida's father. Molina portrays Rivera's volcanic and self-absorbed nature with grace and humor. No other male screen actor (with the exception of James Gandolfini) has come close to the convincing, compelling and contradictory range of emotions that Molina has delivered here.

Fervent anti-communist ideologues might object to the sympathetic portrayl of leftist politics and Leon Trotsky. However, it is true that Marxism was an integral part of the political scene in early 20th century Mexico. It's fashionable to sneer at the old leftists for being naive and dogmatic but they had real hope that they could change a moribund and corrupt society for the better, and Frida and Rivera were part of that movement. Personally it looks to me like they had a lot more fun with their politics than all those earnest North American and British leftists (with exceptions like Woody Guthrie of course).

Finally, whether Trotsky was murderous himself or not, he DID oppose Stalin and his concept of Revolution by Terror, for which he (along with millions of his countrymen and women) paid with his life. The large figures of history sometimes defy simplistic "The Walton's"-style moralizing. We might ask the Japanese how they feel about Harry Truman (who desegregated the US armed forces by executive order) ordering the bombing of innocent women and children at Hiroshima and Nagasaki for example.

This is a definite must-see. If you are at all artistic or just aspire to be, this is a movie that challenges and inspires. Go see it. Go. Go.

Rating:
Summary: I HATE THIS MOVIE
Review: With the exception of the opening credits, this has to be one of the WORST films ever made. Where to begin? I thought that this was going to be an interesting biopic judging from the reviews at the time it originally came out. Having seen the dvd however (and forcing myself to watch it to conclusion), I can tell you I hardly know anything about this woman's art - ostensibly the reason why the film was made to begin with. I hate that the audience is manipulated to feel that Frida, was a woman of passion! Who felt things deeply! Don't YOU feel it, viewer? Oh, the drama! Oh, I beat my breast as a sign of solidarity!! Of feeling!! Ohh ohhh ohh!!! Oh, Frida! You were such a passionate artist!! Ohhh!!! Your life was a celebration!! Oh!!! Your pain!! Your life!!!! WHAT RUBBISH! And I did NOT buy AT ALL, her attraction to Alfred Molina's character. What? Were all the men in her town GAY? Was he really the best catch around? I think this entire film is a complete waste. One or two of the songs stick in the mind, but this production is a joke. I didn't buy into it on any level. Salma Hayek tried TOO HARD with this film. She owes everyone who paid to see this in a theatre or on dvd a refund.