Frida [2002]
Director: Julie Taymor
Actor: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd, Edward Norton
The story is a biography of the life of Frida Khalo, a Mexican artist who, at a very young age gets injured in an accident. Shortly thereafter he career as a political activist and painter takes off, when she meets her future husband Diego Rivera, an artist, the leader of the communist party, and big-time womaniser. They fall in love and get married, which is the beginning of a long and stormy relationship, which fuels Frida’s artistic talent as much as her injury and her life of constant physical pain fueled her talent.
From her accident, to her trips abroad, through her entire relationship, right past her stormy affair with Leon Trotsky, to the moment when her body has completely given up on her.
I found the movie to be…plain, but not in a bad way. The special affects were sober, added a lot of feeling to the movie by bringing the artistic aspect come to life by shooting some of the scenes in a surrealistic way. The acting was superb. From Ms. Hayek’s excellent performance in which she obviously put a lot of work in, to Mr. Molina’s role, to Mr. Norton’s small, but fitting part as a Rockefeller…to the long forgotten dude who played Q on Star Trek as Russian dissident Leon Trotsky.
