Frida is an impressive version of the life and love of the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. In addition to her paintings, she was a beautiful woman who had many lovers and was famous for her scandalous behavior. This made Frida the most shocking woman of the 20th century (Danner 32). The 2002 movie Frida is a biographical drama that honestly and creatively leads the viewer through a series of events in the life of the talented woman. This paper aims to discuss the film from the viewpoint of its historical accuracy and entertainment value.
The movie conveys a lot of facts from Frida Kahlo’s life. It depicts a woman who has experienced so much pain and suffering that it is impossible not to admire her. Knowing about the life of the legendary Mexican artist, one can understand Salma Hayek’s desire to play the main role in the film about her compatriot (Frida). Passionate, explosive, caustic, and simultaneously tender and lonely Frida, suffering all her life from unbearable pain and betrayal of her husband, is one of the few great artists in history.
The adaptation of her life on the screen turned out to be interesting and impressive. Before Frida in 2002, not so many people had heard of the female Mexican artist with a shocking fate. Giving Hollywood gloss to her biography, Julie Taymor was able to convey this story to the audience (Frida). One may get the feeling that Frida Kahlo was a more grandiose personality than Salma Hayek could portray. However, it is impossible to fit the whole life of the artist in two hours.
Although the film is a great achievement for Salma Hayek and Julie Taymor, some details have been omitted. Frida’s health problems started not with an accident but with polio in her childhood, and the melodrama with Rivera was not so sublime. The reality is always more unpleasant; however, the idea of the movie was to show Frida’s freedom, not the smallest details of her life (Danner 28). The main act of freedom was nevertheless realized in the film. It does not hide any low moral facts of Frida’s biography. The artist is shown as an outstanding and freedom-loving personality, surprisingly liberated in every sense. She is portrayed as a woman with explosive character, not controllable, but at the same time complaisant. It seems that she combines incompatible traits: sexual emancipation, rudeness, and frankness.
The plot is thoughtfully created: there is no superfluous in it, but all the main things are in place and connected with smooth lines with incredibly beautiful inserts. Moreover, politicians, the communists, and Trotsky, with whom Frida had a real love affair, fit in surprisingly harmoniously (Fried 1488). In addition to the listed advantages, Salma Hayek coped with the role more than magnificently. Thus, the great Frida Kahlo is shown not only as a genius creator but also as an intelligent and sensual woman. The actress performed her role flawlessly: it is impossible not to sympathize with the character or admire her.
The film is also attractive because it turns the biographical story into an extraordinary cinema. It is constantly bursting with colorful, albeit often pessimistic impressions, feelings, and fantasies of the artist (Fried 1585). This impressionism, which introduces an important element of the convention into the movie, is achieved with the help of animation. Reviving images, faces, and figures turning into canvases attract attention even more than a retelling of the life of the extraordinary Frida Kahlo. Moreover, the color palette and musical accompaniment are directly involved in creating the emotional atmosphere of the film.
The atmosphere, music, and scenery perfectly convey the flavor of Mexico. The film is imbued with Mexican culture, for example, in the scene where the old woman sings a song to Frida in the bar. It is full of exuberant multicolor of Mexico, the Latin American temperament, and the thirst for a life of the main character (Frida). There is no place for dullness in the film, except for the capitalist New York, depicted as an endless black and white newspaper strip. As for the music, the film also contains disruptive Mexican songs that are woven into the plot and develop it. Melodies, framing the action, express the mood of the characters or the general tonality of certain episodes.
The film is dynamic and filled with events, passion, interesting and deep phrases. Cinematic effects in many episodes are used to make the movie bright and impressive. For example, a lesbian connection is depicted in the rhythm of an unforgettable tango in a smoky night bohemian salon with luxurious dresses (Frida). Therefore, in general, there is no impression of stylization or repetition. On the contrary, there is an impression of a documentary or a chronicle. Moreover, the film adapts the legends so ingeniously, consistently, and diversely that one cannot but admit their correctness, at least from a cinematic point of view.
Despite some inaccuracy of events, the film has shown the life and love story of Frida Kahlo, one of the brightest women in the world. Before the release of the movie in 2002, only few people knew about a difficult and amazing fate of such a stubborn and passionate woman. Thus, Frida has become a sonorous hymn to personal freedom in the cinema. The film was made by women, for women, and about women. It appeared to be bright and passionate, like Frida’s palette and character.
Works Cited
Danner, Julia. Surrealism and Feminism in Mid-Twentieth Century Mexico: Gender and Genre in the Work of Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, and Frida Kahlo. Illinois State University, 2018.
Fried, William. “Frida: Portrait of a self.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 76, no. 8, 2020, pp. 1483-1491.
Frida. Directed by Julie Taymor, Ventanarosa Lionsgate Films, 2002.