Frida. Dir. Julie Taymor. Handprint Entertainment, 2002. Netflix. 122 minutes.
For plot summary and other details: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120679/
Language: English, occasional Spanish, a bit of Russian
Subtitles: Available in English and in Spanish
Setting: 1925-1954, Mexico, New York, and briefly Paris
Remarks: The film tracks Frida Kahlo’s life from the age of 18 (when a trolley accident crippled her) until her death. Based on my surface familiarity with Kahlo, the film's accuracy impressed me. I also appreciated the deeply intertwined relationship between her personal life and her artistic production. As a student of French culture, I would have liked to see more of André Breton and the creation of the F.I.A.R.I (Fédération internationale de l’art révolutionnaire et indépendant). His brief presence nevertheless confirmed that the filmmakers had done an extraordinary amount of research to realize the film. I am left wondering if Kahlo actually did attend her first Mexican exhibition from her bed. I know she attended a march in a wheelchair just days before her death, so I think she would have used a wheelchair at the exposition. Regardless, Salma Hayek plays Kahlo just as I had imagined her.
Keywords: Communism, female artist, revolution, sexuality, Surrealism
See also: The Young Karl Marx