Salma Hayek as Frida
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Film review: FRIDA

Anyway I was watching the film FRIDA for the sixth or seventh time & I wanted to encourage anyone interested in film or in the lives of artists or in feminist themes to see this film as it is a must see . The film Frida was directed by Julie Taymor & stars Salma Hayek as Frida. It is the story of the life of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo who is now accepted as one of the greatest & most influential artists of the twentieth century. Her work is filled with pain & beauty & with realism combined with primitivism & the fantastic & the grotesque creating her own unique style. As a film biography it is a delightful surprise.

I had read biographies of Frida Kahlo & Diego Rievera about a dozen or so years ago when I was going through my art history period so I was a little apprehensive about seeing this film as most bio-pics are often disappointing. I had been greatly impressed & inspired by their lives which they dedicated to art & the pursuit of their own artistic vision.Though no doubt this has coloured my viewing of the film to some extent either positive or negative. I had also during that period read a great deal on modern art & on the various individuals movements & techniques especially from Post-Impressionis & Expressionism to Dada & Surrealism & the dozens of movements in between which led me to the writing of my epic-style poem Tales of Cafe Apollinaire. Since I couldn't paint or make a film I made a poem.

Frida spent most of her life in extreme physical pain due to a bus accident when she was seventeen which left her crippled & she was not expected to ever walk again. But because of her stubborness & determination she refuses to give up. She doesn't just walk again but becomes a strong & graceful dancer which is the focus of several scenes in the film as is her ability to drink whiskey & tequilla as much if not more than most men & to even to land a good punch & hold her own in a bar-room brawl .

Frida meets the great Mexican artist Diego Rievera who becomes her mentor & her greatest supporter. Frida's life with him is one of great passion but it was also a rather stormy relationship. Frida eventually gots involved in some scandalous affairs with men & women & even has an affair with the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky .

Frida's life seems more of a fantastic work of fiction rather than the life of a real person because it was such an extraordinary life that she lived.

The contrast between the two artists is quite extraordinary in itself. While Frida painted mostly on canvass small intimate & personal works of art Diego Rievera painted large sweeping murals about the big subjects like history & politics & the class struggle etc. It was mainly due to Rievera along with Marc Chagall that there was a revival of mural painting.

As for the film the cinematography is lush & vibrant like Fridas paintings . There are scenes where painting & reality converge. The film also uses the modern techniques of collage & montage to advance the story which also helps the viewer see the works of Frida Kahlo in the context of the great changes that were on going in the arts of that period. The musical score is absolutely wonderful.

I give it a four out of five or eight out of ten or one & a half thumbs up & that's only becuse there are no car chases not one but there was gun fire & a man hunt & an assassination & nudity & sex scenes.

For more on Frida Kahlo see website WORLD OF FRIDA KAHLO :
members.aol.com/fridanet/kahlo & a dozen other sites.

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