After being attached to a number of actors, directors, and producers, this long-gestating biography of one of Mexico's most prominent, iconoclastic painters reaches the screen under the guiding hand of producer/star Salma Hayek. Hayek ages some 30 years onscreen as she charts Frida Kahlo's life from feisty schoolgirl to Diego Rivera protégée to world-renowned artist in her own right. Frida details Kahlo's affluent upbringing in Mexico City, and her nurturing relationship with her traditional
mother (Patricia Reyes Spindola) and philosophical father (Roger Rees). Having already suffered the crippling effects of polio, Kahlo sustains further injuries when a city bus accident nearly ends her life. But in her bed-ridden state, the young artist produces dozens upon dozens of pieces; when she recovers, she presents them to the legendary -- and legendarily temperamental -- Rivera (Alfred Molina), who takes her under his wing as an artist, a political revolutionary, and, inevitably, a lover. But their relationship is fraught with trouble, as the philandering Rivera traverses the globe painting murals, and Kahlo languishes in obscurity, longing to make her mark on her own. Frida was directed by Julie Taymor, whose Broadway production of The Lion King won her international acclaim. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
Actress Salma Hayek portrays the famed Mexican surrealist painter in a biopic that neither mythologizes nor decries the artist's accomplishments on or beyond the canvas.
[A]s in soap opera, drama is synonymous with the torments of love. Hayek is a brave, tireless performer, ... but given the script she can only play Kahlo the "beguiling personality" she liked to think of herself as ... rather than Kahlo the artist.
While this conventional bio-pic may please middle brow audiences, fans of Ms. Taymor are almost certain to realize that the film could have been so much more than this.
A glossy, paint-by-numbers portrait best hung in a bank lobby. Taymor seems to forget that what defined Kahlo's artistic output was the terrible pain she endured...
A feast for the eyes...a famine for the ears.
This films moments of immense beauty are almost overshadowed by the mediocre acting.
While Salma Hayek certainly looks the part, there is a certain shallowness to her acting abilities that really did not do the character justice. And Ashley Judd's performance (though
mercifully brief) is just painful to watch and hear.
I did learn a lot about Firda's life and with that insight gained a greater appreciation for her work, but what could have been an AMAZING film with a more solid lead...ended up feeling just like a beautifully filmed vanity piece.
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