Frida

Rating:
Summary: Wow! An excellent Julie Taymore picture!
Review: Before watching this movie I had no idea who Frida was. I knew that the film was directed by Julie Taymor (Titus), which meant that it would have a striking visual style. I knew that the movie starred Salma Hayek and that she had wanted to play this role for years. I knew that it had been nominated for 6 Academy Awards including a Best Actress nomination for Hayek. But I did not know anything about the subject of the film.

Frida is a biopic focusing on the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek). As much as the movie focuses on the life of Frida, it seemed that the main thrust of picture was on Frida's relationship with her husband, painter Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina). The film does cover Frida's life from her childhood right up to her death. We begin the movie when Frida is a young woman aspiring to be a painter. Her father is highly supportive of her dreams. However, she is riding on a trolley one day when it gets into an accident. She has to be in a body cast for some time and it was in doubt whether she would ever walk again. She recovers, but she lives a life of pain. Frida meets the womanizing painter, Diego Rivera and they get married. This does not mean that he changes his ways and naturally this causes problems in their marriage. They remain committed to each other even when they are each sleeping with other people. Over the course of the movie we see Frida painting, but it seems that Frida the artist gets pushed to the side and we see Frida the woman/wife. I don't know enough about Frida Kahlo to know if this is a flaw in the movie or not, but it is just the way the movie is.

The acting in this movie is superb. Nothing feels wrong or forced. But, surpassing even the excellent acting is the visual presentation of Frida. Her artwork appears throughout the movie, but not simply as paintings hanging on the wall. Kahlo's artwork appears first as a painting, but that painting transforms into the scene itself. This also works the opposite way in that a scene will end up as a painting and the transitions between the two are so smooth it is very impressive.

I was very impressed with Frida. I didn't care for Julie Taymos's other film (Titus), so I didn't know what to expect. Everyone (Hayek, Taymor) exceeded my expectations for the movie. This was a very good movie.

Rating:
Summary: 3.5 Stars. Well made film, but...
Review: Frida was a well made movie. The cinematography was great, the acting was good, everything worked quite well. What troubled me with this movie was my inability to connect with it.

I expected to be drawn into Frida's character and to be able to understand who she is and what her motivations are, but I found the film lacking that explantion of her character.

It became apparent to me that in order to fully enjoy this movie, you have to be familiar with the life and circumstances of Frida and you have to identify with her character prior to watching the film.

This was my mistake, as I watched the film, knowing little more about Frida than that she was a painter. To me the film unfolded as a series of events in "someone's" life. It was like watching the home videos of a stranger (well, that is overexaggerating quite a bit, but you get the point), it is just a few events in Frida's life that I had no connection with.

The one scene I could connect with was the death scene. I felt more of the movie should have followed the same style as that scene. While watching that scene, I finally felt involved in the movie, instead of being a spectator. Frida lives an interesting life, but if I can't connect with her character, then I can't really enjoy the movie.

So, in conclusion, this is a well-crafted film, but it assumes that you are familiar with and have an interest in Frida, which I am not and do not. So, don't be an idiot like me and use this movie as your introduction to Frida. Do your homework on her first.

Rating:
Summary: SAD PORTRAYAL
Review: IT IS VERY SAD TO SEE A MOVIE THAT DOES NOT BEGIN TO SHOW FRIDA KAHLO'S REAL INTENSITY. IT IS ALSO RIDICULOUS HOW A CREW AND CAST OF ACTOR WHO ARE MOST OF THEM SPANISH SPEAKING, MADE AN ENGLISH MOVIE WITH SPANISH ACCENT. IT WAS REALLY DISAPPOINTING. THIS MOVIE IS JUST A SHOWCASE FOR SALMA HAYEK AND HOW SHE LOOKS IN A COLORFUL BACKGROUND.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, disappointing DVD
Review: First off,this is a DVD review not a film commentary.
This DVD release was a disappointment. I loved the film. It had great acting, beautiful cinematography, well written and well... it was just plain good. I say the DVD was disappointing for numerous reasons. First of it appears that the two disc set is offering you a lot of additional information. What it is actually offering is a lot of fluff. The extras contain absolutely nothing about the real life character that the film was about. The only information we get about the real Frida was a quick walkthrough of the Blue house. It would have been nice to get even a brief photo documentary highlighting her life. Another thing I was hoping to see on the DVD release was an art gallery of Frida's work. You would figure that a film about the artist would at least show her work on the DVD release. To me the extras were more about stroking the filmmaker's egos on a job well done than to honor the person the film was about.
This release is also a huge slap in the face to Spanish speaking buyers. Frida was a Mexican Icon, yet Miramax felt that the DVD release didn't need a Spanish language track. The release is only in English and French. Now does it make sense to honor Frida and neglect her native language on the DVD? I find it insulting, and I am not even Mexican.
To get down to it, the DVD is beautifully packaged but it is only a gilded wrapping. I expected more from a two-disc set than what I got. This release definitely does not do honor to the person from whose life they are profiting from. Don't get me wrong the film alone is worth picking up the DVD. But why should I have to pay for an extra disc that essentially is nothing more than the filmmakers patting themselves on the back?
If your going to buy it get it for the movie, not the supplements.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring beyond words...
Review: If I had art supplies with me, I'd start to paint my thoughts -- and I'm not even a painter. I want to create art that does indeed change the mirror we hold up to reality and art that gives us a chance to think. Really think. As a theatre actor/director who is constantly inspired by Julie Taymor, I'm overjoyed to say this film won't disappoint anyone. The music, the voices, the tones, the colors and the details (for a lady libra such as yours truly, it all matters)... the acting and passion of Salma and Alfred -- along w/the team of other players... I have always wanted to meet Frida and thru this film, we can all meet a part of her. Kudos to Salma for believing and being patient with this project. The time, energy and love is what shines thru. And you DO NOT have to be a Frida lover to appreciate this film.

Rating:
Summary: Hit and miss script but a visual triumph
Review: "Frida" is a biography of famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, whose own triumphs were overshadowed by her tempestuous love affair with muralist Diego Rivera. Throughout her adult life, she also dealt with constant physical pain caused by a near fatal traffic accident. She was one of the most remarkable women of the 20th Century. The film is a visually dazzling work but is brought down a notch by a script which never completely captures her essence. The life of a brilliant artist is admittedly difficult to convey, due to the genius, eccentricity and ego involved, and "Frida" does manage to come close to achieving its loft goals.

Selma Hayek gives a masterful, heartfelt performance as Frida, as does Alfred Molina as Diego. What inspires us, however, is the direction by Julie Taymor, whose colorful and amazing visuals tell us much about how Frida may have viewed the world. Taymor, I feel, is as much an artist as her subject. The script may waver and meander, but Taymor's direction shows that she innately understands who and what Frida was. She almost manages to make the script's flaws seem superfluous.

For lovers of art in all its many forms, "Frida" is a must.

Rating:
Summary: Hayek at her finest
Review: Salma Hayek's Oscar worthy performance made "Frida" that much enjoyable to watch! The heart and soul that went into making this movie paid off once released. One would be crazy not to feel the raw emotions that Frida is feeling during every scene. One may find it hard to believe that the real Frida Kahlo lived this movie. The make up artist was very accurate with Hayek's appearance compared to the Kahlo's paintings(they used her real ones). See it, and if you agree with me, buy it and keep in your movie collection for as long as you live. This will be a classic.

Rating:
Summary: A gilded lily dipped in chocolate.
Review: What on earth did Julie Taymor have in mind? Her version of Shakespeare's Titus was so wildly original and provocative - I guess 50 % of your work is done when Shakespeare is your screen writer - Frida is a landfill of one dull cliche piled on top of another. Kahlo's paintings are pure visual magic and they certainly don't need to be improved on, especially by animating them. Salma Hayek's blunt performance only makes matters worse. A true mess.

Rating:
Summary: How is a Movie about a Spanish artist not in Spanish Audio?
Review: I bought this movie for my mami who was looking forward to it coming out in DVD so she could hear it in Spanish. How did she come to this assumption? My fault! I naturally assumed that a movie about Frida, Mexican artist who spoke Spanish, made by Salma Hayek, again a Mexican artist who speaks Spanish, would have Spanish audio.

I was very very disappointed and my mami was so upset she didn't even want to watch it. Therefore I was forced to return it, find another present and not have the dvd there to remind my mami of her disappointment.

I'm so upset that I would like to find out how to let that person who made the decision to have FRENCH audio instead of Spanish have a piece of my mami's and my mind.

Rating:
Summary: it's about time !
Review: Salma Hayek does an excellent job in this film of portraying Frida Kahlo in this movie.

Although it is slow moving at point and it seems that the story line was created by taking random paintings and trying to put them into a storyline is a bit weak. The scene transitions are slow and do not flow that well.

Nonetheless it's a movie that deserves attention, because Mexicans artists deserve this attention from the world.
Salma Hayek is passionate and very believable in this role.