Frida

Usually, when you see a biopic about a famous artist and genius you either get to see a tragic, suffering creature or an idealized God. And often it's always the same: He/she was born, had a difficult childhood, created some masterpieces, had some affairs (usually with actors/actresses or/and musicians) and dies a sad and lonely death. But what a refreshing difference "Frida" was! 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. She takes what she wants and needs (which also includes love affairs with men and women) but has also a lot to give. Plus her works, so honest, brutal but also beautiful in their truth, reveal one of the greatest talents of our time.

A whole lot of this movie works of course through its female protagonist, whose role is not that easy and a real challenge sometimes. The wonderful and graceful Salma Hayek, who is immensely gifted, does really great work here and awakes Frida and her world to life again. Hayek perfectly holds the balance between triumphs and losses, joy and sorrow, madness and daily routine, life and death. She is just a pleasure to watch, she doesn't play Frida, she IS Frida. Another important character is of course Diego Rivera, the greatest love of Frida's life. Alfred Molina, a great British actor, is perfectly casted for this role and besides, has a remarkable resemblance to the real Diego. 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!

Visually stunning - if this film does not win for cinematography at the Academy Awards, I will be shocked.

This film, based on the biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera, is a masterpiece. I read the book several years ago & have been a Frida fan ever since.

I heard an interview w/Hayden on NPR not too long ago talking about her book & the movie adaptation. She did years & years of research on Frida and is probably as close to an 'expert' on her life as we could come across in the year 2003. She praised Julie Taymor for this film and was quite happy with her adaptation.

Reading the reviews on this page, i find it hard to believe that there are critics of this movie. Everything from the music (beautiful!) to the cinematography to the acting . . . greatness!! Selma really put her heart & soul into this role and she has now made her way onto my list of 'favorite actresses'.

It would be hard to put anyone's life onto the big screen & get every single detail right on - esp. someone who lived 50+ years ago. I think Julie Taymor has done an amazing job of representing the life of Frida.

This is an interesting movie, but less interesting perhaps than the reactions it draws.

First, the nuts and bolts review. 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. This is a movie about artists and it fullfills the first requirement of art. It is visually stunning to look at.

What intrigues me is the heated debate this generates among those who know and admire Frida. It may well be impossible for anyone to make a bio picture that satisfies purists, those who are quite familiar with the subject matter. But purists have to realize that movies are too expensive and difficult to make (this one took decades)for the moviemakers to concentrate on such a small audience. 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. Since I like Rivera's work, I went to see the film. But I knew more about Tina Modotti when I walked into the theater than I did about Frida.

Whether this was an accurate portrayal of her character and life, I haven't a clue. But I do feel I came away knowing a lot more about her than I used to.

My single gripe is that the film seemed to make Frida take a back seat to her husband when it came to art. She is portrayed as someone who is very unsure about the value of her own work. But I can't get too mad about that, because Frida may have been that way in real life for all I know.

I am a leftist politically, but I think we often get much too caught up in politics and rhetoric and often assign political meanings to things when they don't apply. It is very, very complicated to make a biography and no 2 hour film is going to capture every facet of a complex person's personality, mucy less cover every aspect of their lives.

Overall,I'd say "Frida" accomplished its limited mission. It told me something about an artist I knew little about. I will now look for more of her work. I provided me with some fine acting, direction, etc. And perhaps best of all, allowed me to spend two hours in Mexican culture in some way, shape or form. I enjoyed the experience.

Ahm.. I just watched this, it was from 2002 but I had no interest what so ever in the movie or the story when it came out, I knew about it I read in papers but never did actually saw it. Well, tonight was the night. And know this.. I will see it again.. and again until I understand that woman.. Frida Kahlo.

This is the kind of story that goes straight to your heart, straight to your brain and you sit there wondering " How could this really be true.. how could this really happen to a person?" I think that Frida was one brave woman, hell of an artist.. and I wish for myself to be like her if something so horrible happens to me. She was strong, she was a prey to conflicting emotions but she survived. The movie deserves a 10!

My neck hurts from sitting in that uncomfortable chair we have in the dining room but I couldn't feel any pain while watching "Frida". Why?! Simply, because I thought.. "wow.. how was that woman capable of staying alive for so long? How did she bear all that pain?"

This is a "have to see or regret for life".

"Frida" is a beautifully done biopic about Mexican artist and icon Frida Kahlo. Salma Hayek plays this role very well. 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. What really impressed me was the artistic references in the movie. I loved seeing the paintings coming to life! I also liked the surreal animated sequences, particularly the hospital nightmare, populated with Day of the Dead-style skeletons. Few movies have ever made me regard them as a work of art. "Frida" is definitely one of them!