Frida

Plot synopsis:
Frida begins just before the traumatic accident Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) suffered at the age of 18 when a trolley bus collided with a motor bus she was riding. She is impaled by a metal pole and the injuries she sustained plague her for the rest of her life. To help her through convalescence, her father brings her a canvas upon which to start painting. Throughout the film, a scene starts as a painting, then slowly dissolves into a live-action scene with actors.
Frida also details the artist's dysfunctional relationship with the muralist Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina). When Rivera proposes to Kahlo, she tells him she expects from him loyalty if not fidelity. Diego's appraisal of her painting ability is one of the reasons that she continues to paint. Throughout the marriage, Rivera cheats on her with a wide array of women, while the bisexual Kahlo takes on male and female lovers, including in one case having an affair with the same woman as Rivera.
The two travel to New York City so that he may paint the mural Man at the Crossroads at the Rockefeller Center. While in the United States, Kahlo suffers a miscarriage, and her mother dies in Mexico. Rivera refuses to compromise his Communist vision of the work to the needs of the patron, Nelson Rockefeller (Edward Norton); as a result, the mural is destroyed. The pair return to Mexico, with Rivera the more reluctant of the two.
Kahlo's sister Cristina moves in with the two at their San Ángel studio home to work as Rivera's assistant. Soon afterward, Kahlo discovers that Rivera is having an affair with her sister. She leaves him, and subsequently sinks into alcoholism. The couple reunite when he asks her to welcome and house Leon Trotsky (Geoffrey Rush), who has been granted political asylum in Mexico. She and Trotsky begin an affair, which forces the married Trotsky to leave the safety of his Coyoacán home.
Kahlo leaves for Paris after Diego realizes she was unfaithful to him with Trotsky; although Rivera had little problem with Kahlo's other affairs, Trotsky was too important to Rivera to be intimately involved with his wife. When she returns to Mexico, he asks for a divorce. Soon afterwards, Trotsky is murdered in Mexico City. Rivera is temporarily a suspect, and Kahlo is incarcerated in his place when he is not found. Rivera helps get her released.
Kahlo has her toes removed when they become gangrenous. Rivera asks her to remarry him, and she agrees. Her health continues to worsen, including the amputation of a leg, and she ultimately dies after finally having a solo exhibition of her paintings in Mexico.

Tags: avant garde, murder, flashback, psychedelic, romantic, historical, queer

Review:
Salma Hayek (uni-brow and all) gives a genuinely great performance as `Frida,' the Mexican artist who is more famous, perhaps, as the wife of Diego Rivera than as a painter in her own right - although Rivera himself always insisted that it was Frida who had the greater talent.Frida Kahlo was a woman who endured a life of crippling pain caused by a trolley accident in her youth, yet her innate energy, passion and love of life - as well as her enormous abilities as a painter - allowed her to overcome that daunting obstacle to achieve a measure of fame and recognition.
That the relationship is one of utter co-dependency is demonstrated by the fact that Rivera, even after their numerous breakups, keeps coming back to his one true love.Based on the Hayden Herrera biography, the Clancy Sigal/Diane Lake/Gregory Nava/Anna Thomas screenplay doesn't paint Frida as some sort of passive victim of her own weaknesses nor as some sort of plaster saint martyr who was entirely guiltless in her own troubled life.
We empathize with Frida because she functions as such a compelling figure in the context of the story, but we are never allowed to forget that she is a flawed human being, as capable of making a mess of her life as any of the men who generally occupy the lead position in these stories.If for no other reason, `Frida' is worth seeing for the marvelous sense of history it provides, chronicling the turbulent period of the 1920's and 1930's when socialism was the `in' cause for the art world to rally around - at least until the arrival of Stalin when the pipe dream of a worker's state and a classless society fell victim to the murderous brutality of a regime more totalitarian in nature than the one it had replaced.
We also get to see some of the lip service paid by these artists to the socialist cause, as they live the good life among the elite pampered classes, often at the expense of the very workers whose rights they so loudly proclaim in their work.As Frida, Hayek literally carries the film.
Geoffrey Rush, unfortunately, is not given enough time or good material to make much of an impression as Trotsky.Taymor has had mixed results integrating Frida's works into the story.
The movie deals with the biography of Frida Kalho (well performed by Salma Hayek , though Laura San Giacomo was originally set to play her but was dropped when fans objected to a non-Mexican playing the role) who after a terrible accident with a trolley causes herself a crippling injury , then she gets away from her parents (Roger Rees and Patricia Spinola) to live on the paintings .
The film was perfectly directed by Julie Taymor and includes magnificent cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto as when imaginatively brings to life the scenes on the Kalho's paintings , where the color is glimmer and spellbound .
Frida Kahlo's life was more suffering than joy, yet the movie does not pity her all the time but shows Frida's lust for life, love, art and her husband Diegor Riviera.It tells the story of a really unusual life: When Frida is a student, young, beautiful, full of live and in love with a gorgeous boy (Diego Luna from "Y tu mama tambien" and "Dirty Dancing  Havanna Nights) she experiences a horrible accident when her bus crashes with a tram.
Frida then becomes a cripple for the rest of her life, but through this she experiences herself in a new way and starts to paint, mostly self-portraits where she deals with her pain, her family, political situations and people she loves.
Soon after the accident a miracle happens: Frida learns to walk again and the first thing she does is to visit the famous artist and painter Diego Rivera to ask his opinion about her paintings  the beginning of an unusual and often complicated love story that should last a lifetime.We get to learn a woman who experiences so many tragic things in life that it should be enough to commit suicide, yet she never gives up, grows stronger and one thing that certainly helps her through hard times is her wit, her dignity and her love for life and art.
Outstanding performances also by the supporting cast: Valeria Golino, Ashley Judd (with a great imitation of the Mexican accent), Geoffrey Rush and Edward Norton.Frida  a feast for the senses full of life and exploding emotions and a tribute to a truly unique and remarkable woman, who was the greatest female artist of the last century!.
Selma Hyack does a great job portraying the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who marries, puts up with, and in some ways, maybe even excells famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.
It's a tough role and Hyack seems to let it all hang out in many ways.Alfred Molina is good, but not great as Rivera, and the rest of the supporting cast also performs well, including a cameo appearance by Ashley Judd as Italian born-photographer and leftwing activist Tina Modotti.The direction is crisp and effective throughout, and the colors and ambiance of the film are simply great.
They have to look at the big picture and make a film that is understandable to mass audiences, or else count on losing millions of dollars.For myself, I knew next to nothing about Frida Kahlo, only that I had seen some of her paintings and that she was Rivera's wife.
This is a very well-realized film, and the most inspired thing about it is the casting of Salma Hayek in the title role.After displaying amazing star quality in Desperado, Hayek has been sadly under-used by the film world - until this magnificent and passionate performance, which will surely get her an Oscar nomination if there's any hope for Hollywood at all.
She exhibits all the passion that goes into being an artist, especially when playing off Alfred Molina, who plays Diego Rivera, husband of Frida Kahlo, and a famous Mexican artist in his own right.
Unfortunately, the underlying story of the love affair between the title character, Frida Kahlo, and her husband, Diego Rivera, tells an unpleasant tale of irresponsibility and betrayal.
Although Kahlo may be more attributable to her surreal paintings and dramatic marriage to more popular painter Diego Rivera, the movie focuses on the sex lives and deeply held socialist beliefs of the couple.
Salma Khalo's movie grabs many references from the other movie about, Frida: Naturaleza Viva (1984, not 1986), but not the important thing about her shows in the movie, in fact, deliberately (i don't know who had this brilliant idea) twist all the controversial faces of Frida and the contribution to Socialist movement, the support to Sandinist Armed uprising in Nicaragua , instead Salmas wants count us a tale with aspartame; to American market a friendly face of the real anti-capitalist Frida Khalo.just nothing more to say about this film, it worths watch it only for the BSO, edition, scenarios, the Frida Khalos masterworks of course, (but not for biographical references, please, take a book and read it) and cinematography, but the content, is like a big pan cake filled with...air.
The film provides no insight into their politics, relationships, or why they "must" paint.When Rivera has his famous confrontation with Nelson Rockefeller, he declares that he "must stand by his principles."   Up to that point, the film has never introduced us to any of Rivera's principles, or whether he had any principles at all.There is a lot of reference to Frida Kahlo's pain after the trolley accident, but no insight into how this may have influenced her life and art.
In fact Selma Hayek rarely shows Kahlo as being in pain at all, unless it's convenient to the story line.This movie felt like the film makers expected us to be impressed by all of the already well-known details of Frida Kahlo's life:  her accident, her relationship with Rivera, her art, her various affairs with Leon Trotsky, and others.
The story of this Mexican artist is wonderfully presented in this movie, with a stunning performance of Salma Hayek.
Maybe because art comes from such a deep, personal place in each individual that a filmmaker can't get at the source.Salma Hayek is fine as Frida Kahlo, but it takes more than an artfully applied mono-brow to add up to a compelling performance.
It presents the major facets of Frida's life--the terrible accident, her great love for Rivera, lesbian dalliances, miscarriage, her art work, affair with Trotsky, etc.-- as if it were marking off a list.
After hearing about all the grandeur that this film would convey, I was looking forward to seeing the attempt to put the life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo onto the screen but I also came in with healthy skepticism.
Hayek is tepid, stale and dull and never really brings any vividness or passion into one of the most vibrant artists of the century, instead, we get to see her breasts about 20% of the time, not that I am against that, but a film should be about something more important that conventional sex scenes which have no point being on the screen and give us feelings into the art and life and relationship with Rivera (played by the dismal Alfred Molina).
We feel as if we are watching a bunch of idiots on the screen because not one of the actors hired for this film show any enthusiasm or any acting capabilities, although Antonio Banderas as the artist Siqueiros is the closest thing but he is given only about 2 minutes to work.
See the Mexican production from 1986, also called Frida, with Ofelia Medina as the artist.Well, then, take Hayek's widely loved performance, throw in a convincing if slightly camera-smart (self-aware) performance by Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera, and you have the story of this tempestuous artist couple like no other.
Mexico, in particular, comes off beautifully, and Frida (since we are on first name terms) loved Mexico and all things Mexican.This is not, especially, a story of Kahlo the artist, which is a fair enough decision, given that so much already happens in this two hours.
Salma Hayek is `Frida' a young talented bisexual women with an undying passion for expression through her paintings, and a women dealing with the all-popular struggling tale of love and life.
Taking place in Mexico City during the 1920's, the film delivers a successful look into the lives of those who were there to experience the city for everything that it was and everything that it could have been.Clearly the main thing to look for in this piece is Salma Hayek's most glorious performance to date and Alfred Molina's successful portrayal as her husband.
Director Julie Taymor certainly made the film's performances stand out with it's interesting approach at using the characters artistic expression through painting, a communication tool for the audience to delve deeper and deeper into the minds of those that this story is so clearly about.
Frida, a film by Julie Taymore based on the 1983 biography by Hayden Herrera stars Selma Hayek as the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo who suffered through a lifetime of physical pain and a tempestuous marriage to leave the world a legacy of great art.
Ms. Hayek looks like Frida in her colorful Mexican dresses with heavy necklaces and braids wrapped around her head but the psychology of her art and the political issues that she cared about are presented only in a very superficial manner.Frida first met the muralist Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina) at the National Preparatory School in Mexico City where he was painting a mural in the school auditorium.
Salma Hayek played the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, in this two hour film about her life.
Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) is a rebellious student who is intrigued with artist Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina).
I did enjoy the creative touches of fancy  they were a very effective way of showing that this was an artistic, creative person.As everyone has already said, Hayek is well cast as Frida in regards looks but her performance is also good.
The other players are fine, but the script gives them little that we will remember them for.The unconventional relationship between Kahlo and Rivera might remind some viewers of another movie about artists, the Anglophilic but similarly juiceless `Carrington.'  This film is rainbow-colored where that one was gray, but they have in common a rather sad inability ever to really come to life.
Scenes from the - often troubled - life of the crippled Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.The problems of artists-on-film are well known: The layman has to be educated, and as soon as you do this starts the connoisseur complains about having their intelligence insulted.
Bad as it is, I still think it has some small educational value!) Husband Alfred Molina (playing muralist Diego Rivera) is probably just as good an artist and lets the film become a two-for-the-price-of-one deal.
This is a solid movie that is a must see for anyone who believes in the artistic expression of the internal world as exploding onto the screen by Frida Kahlo to the political commitment and expression of Diego Rivera - the dove and the elephant, an evolving tale of romance and independence, of sensual freedom and betrayal..
Very unusual movie experienceThis strange art-drama is an adaptation of the biography of famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
But the performance of Salma Hayek and the way in which the movie was filmed are truly impressive.
I liked very much the interpretations of Salma Hayek who played as Frida Kahlo, Alfred Molina who played as Diego Rivera and Valeria Golino who played as Lupe Marín.
In the attempt to do so it pulls out all stops ~ striking visual imagery from Mexican born director of photography Rodrigo Prieto (Water For Elephants '11) ~ marvelous visual effects from Dawson and Schrecker ~ good performances from most of the cast ~ OK (if overly voyeuristic) direction from Julie Taymor ~ evocative music score by Eliot Goldenthal ~ lots of color and angst.Maybe there wasn't a great deal to work with in Kahlo's life, as the movie spends more time indulging in over detailed examinations of her somewhat sordid private life.
...there's a lot I came away liking in it.Frida follows most of the life story of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo(SAlma Hayek,who pushed hard for this show,produced it and her passion for it shows in this role!),from her days as an Art school student in 1922 to her dying days in the(I'm guess-timating here)late 1960s.
Through it all,she paints the world she knows and steadily: her joys,her pains(i.e. Diego's infidelity,her miscarriage,her disabilities and failing health)and much of what she observes in her travels.Beautifully filmed by director Julie Taymor,off an adapted novel,and featuring extended cameos by Ashley Judd and Edward Norton and augmented by touching performances by Roger Rees(as Frida's patient and loving father),Valeria Golino(as one of Diego's former wives)and Mia Maestro as Frida's sister,this movie is colorful,lush and passionate.
Alfred Molina gives Diego Rivera an edgy charm and has a good body language, acting subtly and he has a great chemistry with Salma Hayek even if I think she's more responsible for this than him.
Beneath that Frida is a magnificent movie - colourful as Kahlo's paintings, intense and painful as her life full of love and hatred and with astonishing pictures and visions.
Hayek persisted in getting the movie made to have a Mexican feminist icon played by a Mexican actress -- though she saw no similar national loyalty in casting the rest of the characters, including Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera, Valeria Golino as Lupe Marín, etc.Hayek is effective in aging from a rebellious teenager to a tragic revolutionary, though her evocation of Kahlo's life of pain wavers a lot, including that sometimes she limps, sometimes she doesn't.But the key is the opening credit: "A film by Julie Taymor" and this makes is worth seeing.
Frida is played by Salma Hayek and she gives a great performance and makes us care for the artist she portrays.
i didn't knew much about Frida before seeing this film, director portrayed the intimate life of her, her romances, her beginning as an artist and let me tell you that the art direction's great, it's a hole great visual experience!
Salma Hayek has the title role in this film about the life of famous Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina excel as the famous artistic couple, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, bringing them vividly to life.
I'm sure Salma Hayek wanted this to be a movie worthy of the artist, since it's a project she wanted to do for many years, but if you ask me, it's no better than the best mexican films of the last years.I thought Salma would put her heart into playing her favorite artist in the big screen but it doesn't seem like it, and if she did, then maybe she's not such a great actress as I had believed.
Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera, Frida's husband and world-class artist, is every bit as convincing in his role as Salma is in hers.
I personally kept thinking, without knowing too much about Kahlo and Rivera, that they were undoubtedly, in "real life," much less likable than these two characters as portrayed by Hayek and Molina.
Here she uses the rich, earth-tones of Mexico and the beautiful pastels of Santa Fe to bring to life the story of artist, Frida Kahlo.Frida is portrayed by Selma Hayek in a eye-opening performance that proves the woman CAN actually act.
Salma Hayek gives a strong performance as the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and Albert Molina gives her great support as her husband, the muralist Diego Rivera.
In the movie Frida staring Salma Hayek in the starring role, you get a nice overview of this larger than life artist.