Frida-Thoughts and Reviews

[Scarface98.9]

This new rise-and-fall story starring Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina opens soon, and moight as well post any thougts and reviews of it. Here's the summary from the IMDB:


"Frida" chronicles the life Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) shared unflichingly and openly with Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), as the young couple took the art world by storm. From her complex and enduring relationship with her mentor and husband to her illicit and controversial affair with Leon Trotsky, to her provocative and romantic entanglements with women, Frida Kahlo lived a bold and uncompromising life as a political, artistic, and sexual revolutionary.

[Fergus]

If anyone has seen the film TITUS, or the stage production of THE LION KING for that matter, will know that director Julie Taymor has an amazing visual talent, all her own. When I first heard the bio of Frida Kahlo was in production, I put it on my list of movies "I MIGHT SEE," that is, until I saw that Taymor--was/is--directing the film, that alone took care of the fact that I would see this film. It won't come to the theaters nearby until next weekend or the weekend after, so it will be awhile till I see this one, but I will....

[idealdiscountdude]

I'm dying to see Frida.

Like Fergus stated, director Julie Taymor's visual style is amazing, and very unique IMO.

I have been reading alot about the late Frida Kahlo as of late and I have become fascinated with her story.

The cast is top notch. Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Ashley Judd, Antonio Banderas, and Geoffrey Rush to name a few.

I hope it goes wide in the very near future so it'll come to my area.

[Scarface98.9]

Here's Ebert's review:

Early in their marriage, Frida Kahlo tells Diego Rivera she expects him to be "not faithful, but loyal." She holds herself to the same standard. Sexual faithfulness is a bourgeois ideal that they reject as Marxist bohemians who disdain the conventional. But passionate jealousy is not unknown to them, and both have a double standard, permitting themselves freedoms they would deny the other. During the course of "Frida," Kahlo has affairs with Leon Trotsky and Josephine Baker (not a shabby dance card), and yet rages at Diego for his infidelities.

Julie Taymor's biopic tells the story of an extraordinary life. Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek), born of a German Jewish father and a Mexican mother, grew up in Mexico City at a time when it was a hotbed of exile and intrigue. As a student, she goes to see the great muralist Diego Rivera at work, boldly calls him "fat" and knows that he is the man for her.

Then she is almost mortally injured in a trolley crash that shatters her back and pierces her body with a steel rod. She was never to be free of pain again in her life and for long periods had to wear a body cast. Taymor shows a bluebird flying from Frida's hand at the moment of the crash, and later gold leaf falls on the cast: She uses the materials of magic realism to suggest how Frida was able to overcome pain with art and imagination.

Rivera was already a legend when she met him. Played by Alfred Molina in a great bearlike performance of male entitlement, he was equally gifted at art, carnal excess and self-promotion. The first time Frida sleeps with him, they are discovered by his wife, Lupe (Valeria Golino), who is enraged, of course, but such is Diego's power over women that after Frida and Diego are wed, Lupe brings them breakfast in bed ("This is his favorite. If you are here to stay, you'd better learn how to make it.")

Frida's paintings often show herself, alone or with Diego, and reflect her pain and her ecstasy. They are on a smaller scale than his famous murals, and her art is overshadowed by his. His fame leads to an infamous incident, when he is hired by Nelson Rockefeller (Edward Norton) to create a mural for Rockefeller Center, and boldly includes Lenin among the figures he paints. Rockefeller commands the mural to be hammered down from the wall, thus making himself the goat in this episode forevermore.

The director, Julie Taymor, became famous for her production of "The Lion King" on Broadway, with its extraordinary merging of actors and the animals they portrayed. Her film "Titus" (1999) was a brilliant re-imaging of the Shakespeare tragedy, showing a gift for great daring visual inventions. Here, too, she breaks out of realism to suggest the fanciful colors of Frida's imagination. But real life itself is bizarre in this marriage, where the partners build houses side by side and connect them by a bridge between the top floors.

Artists talk about the "zone," that mental state when the mind, the eye, the hand and the imagination are all in the same place and they are able to lose track of time and linear thought. Frida Kahlo seems to have painted in order to seek the zone and escape pain: When she was at work, she didn't so much put the pain onto the canvas as channel it away from conscious thought and into the passion of her work. She needs to paint, not simply to "express herself" but to live at all, and this is her closest bond with Rivera.

Biopics of artists are always difficult, because the connections between life and art always seem too easy and facile. The best ones lead us back to the work itself and inspire us to sympathize with its maker. "Frida" is jammed with incident and anecdote--this was a life that ended at 46 and yet made longer lives seem underfurnished. Taymor obviously struggled with the material, as did her many writers; the screenwriters listed range from the veteran Clancy Sigal to the team of Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas, and much of the final draft was reportedly written by Norton. Sometimes we feel as if the film careens from one colorful event to another without respite, but sometimes it must have seemed to Frida Kahlo as if her life did, too.

The film opens in 1953, on the date of Frida's only one-woman show in Mexico. Her doctor tells her she is too sick to attend it, but she has her bed lifted into a flat-bed truck and carried to the gallery. This opening gesture provides Taymor with the set-up for the movie's extraordinary closing scenes, in which death itself is seen as another work of art.

[idealdiscountdude]

Frida kicked major butt in Limited Release last weekend grossing over $200,000 on only 5 screens!


Here is the films poster:

http://www.salmahayek.org/style/win.jpg

[Scarface98.9]

I don't know if this glitch happened on everyone else's, but when Ideal posted before, it didn't acknowledge that he posted and the topic wasn't bumped up

[idealdiscountdude]

Originally posted by Scarface98.9
I don't know if this glitch happened on everyone else's, but when Ideal posted before, it didn't acknowledge that he posted and the topic wasn't bumped up

Really dude?

It moved to the top on my screen after I posted it!

Stinkin' computers! ;)

[idealdiscountdude]

From www.boxofficemojo.com

Rank LW Title Company Gross +/-% Screens +/-Sc
16 31 Frida Miramax $1,000,000 +385.4% 47 +42

Per Screen Average Total Gross
$21,276 $1,320,000


Frida is doing fantastic business in Limited Release!

[idealdiscountdude]

Frida opens here on Friday (Nov 15th). I can't wait to check it out!

[Scarface98.9]

I guess no one on the board has seen it yet

[Fergus]

It just opened 20 mi. away on Friday, but it won't be for another few weeks till I see it. *shrugs*

[Sparrow]

I saw Frida yesterday and I have to say, I wasn't overly impressed with it. I felt the director tried too hard to be "artsy", for one thing. And, as much as I like her in other roles, Ashley Judd trying to do a Mexican accent was awful. But my biggest problem with it was I felt the movie should have been done in Spanish with subtitles. I can't stand watching movies that are in English when the characters are really from a foreign country - it really bugs me.

It was an ok movie, otherwise. I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy it. My friend who saw it with me thought it was incredible. I just didn't feel like it lived up to my expectations.

[Fergus]

I got lucky this weekend, both FRIDA, and FAR FROM HEAVEN opened at my theater. I didn't get to see them both, but this afternoon I saw Julie Taymor's "FRIDA". I was a little disappointed only because I was expecting this film to be great, on account of Taymor's artistic brilliance, that I had the pleasure of tasting in her last film TITUS. The problems that plague Frida really lie in the script, not Taymor's direction. I've read reviews that blame Taymor for neglecting the characters and focusing her talent on visuals, and to tell you the truth, there isn't that much artistry in the visuals as you might expect. Taymor did focus more on the story and life of Frida and her womanizing husband, Diego, played wonderfully by Alfred Molina (deserving of an oscar nomination). But there's a problem with that--not much of the person in either Diego or Frida is revealed, I wanted the film to elaborate more on the pain in Kahlo's life, and more on her artistic genius (that she claimed doesn't exist). And I also felt the film moved a little too slowly for my tastes, but I still stayed on till the end, I love the last shot, pretty cool. (7.5/10)

[dh1989]

To someone who has seen Frida, is Edward Norton good in this film? He is really the only reason I'd see it and I'd like to know if he has a substanial part. Thanks in advance! :)

[Fergus]

No prob dh........ Edward Norton is WASTED in this movie, as is Geoffrey Rush. Actually Rush's part is much larger, he plays Trotsky who plays a pretty significant part. Norton, however, is in the film with under three minutes of screentime, possibly less, I just know he was barely in it...... this is a SMALL role; which makes me wonder why he did it in the first place.

And more thoughts:

I did think Ashley Judd was pretty unbelievable in her role; seeing her attempt a spanish accent didn't work at all. Rush's russian accent wasn't too bad though. In terms of Frida and Diego's relationship, I found it very compelling and by the end--sucked into caring for them. Disappointing along the same lines as "Auto Focus," in that we never delve very deep into the lives of the main character(s). Visually, Taymor does her part, but it stays mostly as icing on the cake. I also realize that Antonio Banderas is in this movie, and has a smaller role in the film than the other cameo's, less than Norton. Also, I agree with Taymor on her choice to do the film in English, even if it didn't work as well as she might've intended. I don't see a reason why subtitles were needed, especially when you have three different languages in the film: English, Spanish, and Russian. English is most universal (I hope), and I felt it worked fine.

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by Fergus
No prob dh........ Edward Norton is WASTED in this movie, as is Geoffrey Rush. Actually Rush's part is much larger, he plays Trotsky who plays a pretty significant part. Norton, however, is in the film with under three minutes of screentime, possibly less, I just know he was barely in it...... this is a SMALL role; which makes me wonder why he did it in the first place.


It's a fact that Hayek and Taymer needed a lot of support to get this movie made from the powers that be in Miramax. Norton did a free script rewrite to help out his girlfriend Hayek. He probably did it to help get more recognition for the the project (the same can be said for Banderas, who has said he did it for Salma before)

[Fergus]

OHHHH....I was wondering why so many talented (or at least well known) actors made their way into the film. And Norton's rewrite of the script didn't help very much because that was the most disappointing aspect of the film. Good to know that though....thx.

[Puck Bond]

Frida is a pretty good biopic of great Mexican artist Frida Kahlo from her crippling accident through her rocky marriage with Diego Rivera. Salma Hayek is very good as Frida...this is a bold dramatic role (which does include some nudity) that we haven't seen Hayek do before and she is very good throughout the film. She also had a role in producing the film...we see Frida from her small beginnings in Mexico City, a daughter of a German Jewish father and traditional Mexican mother to her coping with a crippling trolley accident through her small beginnings of a painter and her marriage with fellow artist and inspiration Diego Rivera played wonderfully by Alfred Molina, who constantly womanizes...but he vows to stay loyal to Frida throughout. All amidst social and political unrest and revolution the film looks at Frida and her relationship with Rivera and deals with issues of trust, jealousy and fidelity. Directed by Julie Taymor the film is vibrant with color and feels alive. There is also nice visual trickery that uses art and paintings to establish scenes that then move into live action. There is also a nice scene that involves Frida and Rivera moving through a complex array of pictures of New York when they go there and Rivera is commisioned by Nelson Rockefeller played by Edward Norton to do a mural. There is also an appearance by Geoffrey Rush as political refugee and activist Leon Trotsky, and there are also small appearances by Ashley Judd and Antonio Banderas. My only real complaint about the film is we don't see enough of Frida's art and her motivations for the way and what she painted...however Frida is a good film of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo with wonderful performances by Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina.

[lily25]

Even if you aren't familiar with Frida Kahlo's history or her art, Frida is a movie worth seeing for its visual stimulation. Mexico City in the early 20's is this bustling, colorfull town full of life and political fever...And Frida gets herself right in the middle of it.

I liked Frida's character so much because of her strength and "zest" for life. She was involved in such a horrible accident in her youth that probably would have killed most people. But instead of succuming to the pain she uses it to fuel her paintbrush. She is completely her own woman, and builds her own art following along side her husbands already prominent career.

The film is rich in color, music, passion, and exitement. Frida's art and indepence were so cutting edge for their time, and I'd recommend this movie to anyone....8/10.