This eloquent adaptation of the real life story of Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) opens as some of the devastating events that will shape the rest of her life begin to occur. A spirited teen, the daughter of a well to do family in Mexico City, Frida pushes the limits. Whether having clandestine sex with her boyfriend while the house is full of relatives and friends, or showing up for a family portrait with hair slicked back and dressed to the nines in the latest attire…for a young man, Frida demands her family's attention.
A horrific trolley accident punctures Frida's pelvis and her young body is encased in a body cast. During her long recuperative period she begins to paint; first the plaster cast itself and then self-portraits of her bound body. Frida considers becoming an artist and asks Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), Mexico's famous muralist, to provide his opinion.
This is risky business as Frida has harassed him in the past, after seeing him confronted by his wife while painting a nude woman with whom he was having an affair. Well known for his philandering and his magnificent murals, Diego believes that there is a difference between fidelity in marriage and loyalty. One can sleep around and still be loyal!
Diego and Frida become romantically involved and eventually are married; though they share adjacent houses (not bedrooms) bridged by a colorful walkway. It's a rocky relationship due in part to his left wing politics and skirt chasing. Eventually Frida steps out and has affairs with both men and women. At one point Diego and Frida's sister Gracie (Saffron Burrows) become lovers. Their relationship is summed up when Frida tells Diego, "I've had two big accidents in my life…the trolley and you, and you are by far the worse…."
The film has several wonderfully sensual moments. Passion leaps off the screen in vivid colors, life imitates art¾and vice versa, politics follow polemics, and then there's the pure sexuality of it all. A woman, who has slept with Diego, tells Frida that she is a better lover than he is. Frida Kahlo was a woman who experienced life during the 1930-50 time frame and even today her adventures and accomplishments would be considered risqué. There is a tango and a kiss between Hayek and Ashley Judd; a nude scene of Hayek, beautiful even when a body cast is removed revealing a torso brushed with chalk residue and a person in obvious pain. No opportunity for sensuality is overlooked.
Director Julie Taymor (director of "The Lion King" on Broadway and the film "Titus") uses her innovative creativity to direct a film, which is artistically stunning. Molina's performance is so strong that he tends to overshadow Frida's story. Do expect some Oscar nominations for this film, which we believe, would be well deserved.
Saying that the whole picture is less than the sum of its parts is not meant as a left handed compliment. One could nit pick on Trotsky being depicted by Geoffrey Rush, that Ashely Judd does not look Mexican even with all the makeup or the fact that a film set mostly in Mexico is in English rather than Spanish with subtitles. With a film that has so much to say, this is one of those cases where a longer movie would have been a better film. It runs just under two hours, which is the desired length for most moviegoers. Theater owners like this length because it allows them to show a film more times and maximize their profits.
There are many gems in the film. The fantastic portrayal of Frida and Diego as they take the New York City art scene, alone is worth the price of admission. Excellent acting glows against a backdrop of the artwork, which often morphs into reality. Anyone married over 20 years has just got to love some of the situations between Frida and Diego as well as her parents. Diego sums up marriage by saying, "…a good marriage requires a short memory."
As Frida's health slips to the point of realizing that she has little time left, she expresses the thought, "I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return." Many of us need the passing of time to understand the situation we are in at the moment, especially if it's one of the best ¾or worse times in our life. Frida was able to step outside of herself and see both the present and the future…and to paint it, sometimes with painful beauty. Although she did not live a long life, few would argue that Frida Kahlo did not get more out of life than most.
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