Frida

Rating:
Summary: Frida Is A Miracle
Review: I have known her story for years and could not believe she was not a sensation. Now she is and I smile, thinking at last a passionate iconoclastic woman has made it to the top, even if poshumously. Which is the way most women make it at all.

The colors are eye candy. The direction is seamless. And Salma shines. I want this DVD and I want it now.

Rating:
Summary: Great performance by Salma, great movie!
Review: Julie Taymor comes back from a three-year hiatus, after "Titus" to direct Salma Hayek and a cast of super-stars in "Frida." Just to name a few: Geoffrey Rush, playing Trotsky; Antonio Banderas, playing Siqueiros; Edward Norton (also co-responsible for the screenplay), playing Nelson Rockefeller; and Ashley Judd, playing sexy photographer Tina Modotti, who plays alongside Hayek one of the most erotic scenes to be shot in quite a while: a tango dance to the song "The Blue Room", composed by scorer Ellieot Goldenthal and magically sung by Lila Downs. Needless to say, then, that the casting was superb.

The script was based on a book by Hayden Herrera, but the screenplay was very well accomplished (kudos to this new facet of Ed Norton!) reminding at several points of the magical realism in the movie "Like Water For Chocolate" -spiced up with sexy and funny moments, the core of the story always revolves around Frida's tormented life which was filled with accidents and suffering, from her bus accident in her younger years to all the pain she went through her life, both in her body and her soul (largely due to Diego Rivera's sexual adventures outside their marriage).

There are plenty of moments where the editing is simply marvelous: moving from shots of a painting seamlessly into a moving shot where Frida would be wearing the clothes of the painting. This is one peculiar and attractive feature the movie resorts to periodically to showcase some of Frida's work, while retaining the attention of the viewer and the flow of the story in a very clever way. Also the score (read my review about it) is outstanding.

The movie won't fit the tastes of people who get easily shocked with openly lesbic performances, but if you can set any prejudices to the side (which you should), you are bound to enjoy a great ride, which I am sure will put both, Taymor and Hayek, on a new level as director and actress, from here on out.

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: "My... sister! You're an animal!"
Review: A girl and her dream. I'm referring to Salma Hayek rather than Frida Kahlo. *Frida* represents Ms. Hayek's apparent life-long ambition to portray the fascinating, brilliant Mexican surrealist painter. It doesn't much represent Kahlo. Director Julie Taymor reduces the story of one of the most interesting people of the 20th Century to a low comedy about marriage -- in this case, Kahlo's off-and-on marriage to muralist Diego Rivera. They make love; they fight. Rivera sleeps with Frida's sister; she sleeps with his hero Leon Trotsky. She favorably compares HER infidelities to HIS, suggesting that she goes about it in a more ethical manner (e.g., breaking off the affair with Trotsky when it starts causing pain to Trotsky's wife). Rivera feeds her breakfast prepared for them by one of his previous wives who lives upstairs; Frida hurls a glass of tequila across the room. In other words, it's a bad soap opera. Taymor apparently believes that we'll be too dazzled by all the "important" personages presented in the film (played by "superstars" like Ashley Judd and Antonio Banderas, among others, in cameo appearances) to notice. As with her earlier film, *Titus*, Taymor reveals herself to be a pushy sensibility, trying to impress us with the company she keeps. I grant you that her films are exquisitely photographed and sometimes even brilliantly staged (here, Frida's fateful trolley accident is compelling to watch), but it's also quite evident that she's more interested in flaunting her admittedly fine command of visual pyrotechnics than she is in her subjects. As presented here, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo are little more than a mutually cuckolding pair who might as well be ANY unhappily married couple. Rather than explore the sensibilities behind the art -- let alone the actual art itself, of which we indeed see very little -- the director would rather show off . . . and what else but "showing off" can you call the literally animated sequence wherein a supersize Rivera climbs the side of the Empire State Building a la King Kong? And that's just one example of many. *Frida* is all about Taymor, not Frida. Sorry, Salma. -- For those interested, there's a perfectly adequate film that was made in 1984, also called *Frida*, also based on the source the writers used here: the classic biography of Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. In fact, lemme just recommend the book, if you're REALLY interested.

Rating:
Summary: a work of art, a piece of history
Review: This is the best artist biopic I have seen, and it's a remarkable achievement for Salma Hayek, and director Julie Taymor.
Based ( with certain fictionalizations) on the excellent Hayden Herrera biography, the re-creation of Mexico in the first half of the 20th century is a marvel.
The cast is wonderful. Hayek is perfect as the petite Frida, and Alfred Molina so believable as Rivera. There are small parts filled in by Edward Norton, Ashley Judd, and Antonio Banderas, and with Geoffrey Rush as Trotsky.
I especially like the acclaimed Welsh actor, Roger Rees, as Guillermo, Frida's father, and beautiful Valeria Golino, as Rivera's ex-wife.

The soundtrack by Elliot Goldenthal (Taymor's husband) is terrific, full of traditional Mexican songs that add so much to this film.
The magnificent Lila Downs sings several songs (she is briefly seen in 3 of them), and among them is a signature song for her, "La Llorona"...a second version of this song is sung by the legendary Costa Rican star of years gone by, Chavela Vargas, and another treat is the voice of Caetano Veloso in the final end title song.

Perhaps my favorite part of this film are the "living paintings". Innovative and spectacular, I think Frida would have loved this added dimension to her work. The film ends with the final words from her diary: "I hope the exit is joyful--and I hope never to come back--Frida".

Rating:
Summary: Movie of the year
Review: This has got to be the movie of the year.
Selma did an excellent job and the cinematography was breathtaking.
I can't wait to see it again and again.
I'm glad it's in English, only to reach a larger audience since Americans are so turned off from reading.
Some steamy, lesbian erotica, but tasteful.

Rating:
Summary: Frida merece estar presente en los Premios Oscar!
Review: Con un magnifico libreto bajo el brazo esta pieza cinematografica se ha convertido en la obra maestra de esta industra este año. Esta pelicula esta basada en un libro sobre la vida de la gran pintora mexicana Frida Kahlo. Se exponen temas como el accidente que casi le arrebata la vida, su promiscuidad sexual, la conmocion causada por su boda con el muralista mexicano Diego Rivera, sus experiencias lesbicas, su pintura y el calvario en el cual fue convertida su vida. Salma Hayek tiene una muy bien merecida nominacion al Premio Oscar como mejor actriz ya que con su inigualable actuacion nos hizo sentir la felicidad, el coraje y sobre todo el dolor fisico que Frida sintio durante distintas etapas de su vida. Otro punto que toca esta pelicula es la añoranza que nos deja a los espectadores mexicanos por regresar a nuestra tierra. El unico punto que yo en lo personal hubiese cambiado es que la pelicula fuera en español y no en ingles. Recomiendo altamente esta pelicula para todo aquel que quiera conocer un poco mas de nuestra cultura y al mismo tiempo visualizar la vida de una de las mujeres mas controversiales, famosas y talentosas de Mexico y todo el continente americano.

Rating:
Summary: Sex, Lies, Lots of Paint
Review: I'm going to try to give the person who hasn't seen this yet what to expect without giving away the storyline. (Storyline?)

Movie traces the lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera from the time the schoolgirl and friends first ogle him and his model when he comes to town, to their marriage, their divorce, their re-marriage and...it's frankly hard to tell what happens at the end, but I assumed Sra. Kahlo was near death.

Be warned, there is a lot of sex and nudity. There is also a lot of blood, and a particularly graphic scene involving an embryo. Those familiar with the career of Kahlo will not be surprised at this. Those unfamiliar may wince at all of this.

On the plus side, there are some really cool visual effects involving some puppetry and other low-tech graphics, as you might expect from The Lion King's Julie Taymor. Pay close attention to the paintings in the movie.

All in all, I personally found a visually beautiful movie which dangerously smelled of lacking a plot. Point-of-view changes constantly from narration to observation. If the unsuspecting moviegoers keep the kids at home, turn their heads during the grosser parts, and do not expect a strict biopic, I think they may find it, at the very least, interesting. It's not a feel-good movie by any stretch, but it's not totally pessimistic, either. In fact, I found myself not knowing what exactly to feel by the end of it.

Rating:
Summary: Calling All Artists
Review: Frida is a magnificent film for anyone interested in painting as it is the first film, to my knowledge, that actually brings alive an artist's paintings and makes the thought processes behind them accessable. Frida's paintings are a direct mirror of her inner experiences, and the film makes this abundantly clear. I was mesmerized by the meticulous craft of the film, it is a visual feast; the story enthralling, the music powerful. It frames a rich and colorful culture. As an painter and a woman, I loved it. Films don't often have this much impact for me.

Rating:
Summary: Frida is about a well meaning Communist dupe
Review: Frida should initially be seen on a large screen. The cinematography of this film is unarguably gorgeous. Elliot Goldenthal's brilliant music score sets the right tone. Director Julie Taynor provides us with a glimpse of how delusional some well meaning Communists were in the previous century. Salma Hayek accurately portrays Frida Kahlo as intellectually shallow and easily swayed by avant-garde radicalism. She does, though, earn our respect for enduring unrelenting pain and overcoming challenges that might defeat the best of us. Her husband Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina) was far more talented, but still Kahlo's own work is deemed thought provoking and deserving of praise. This couple held the standard mores of a viable social order in utter contempt. The term dysfunctional doesn't begin to describe the unusualness of their relationship. Their everyday life of sexual promiscuity and alcohol abuse is taken for granted. We get to observe the highs and lows of their atypical arrangement. One does not need to be a Puritan to sense that a bad ending is inevitable.

The Soviet thug Leon Trotskey (Geoffrey Rush) is presented as some sort of humane philosopher who strongly disagreed with the vicious tendencies of the Stalin regime. This is a false interpretation of events, but a brief movie review is not an appropriate place to set the record straight. Edward Norton briefly plays the part of Nelson Rockefeller who did the right thing by ordering Rivera's mural destroyed. The great artist naively wished to honor Vladimir Illyich Lenin, one of the most blood thirsty tyrants in human history. We are tempted to cheer when the laborers are finally sent to tear it down.

Frida easily earns five stars. Possessing great artistic talent is not a guarantee that one is able to distinguish between good and evil. Frida and her compatriots inadvertently did enormous damage. This splendidly well done movie will assist you in comprehending how the Communist movement was able to convert so many intelligent people to its diabolically nihilistic ideology. We must learn from history so that past is not repeated.