FRIDA -----
The daughter of a European Jewish photographer and Mexican mother, Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek, "Traffic") was crippled by polio as a young girl only to suffer extensive injuries years later in a bus accident that would keep her in pain for the rest of her life. During her lengthy convalescence, Frida began to paint and once she could walk again, she audaciously visited famous muralist, Communist and womanizer Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina, "Chocolat") for a critique of her work. Rivera swept Frida into a new social circle and then his bed, before making her his third wife in 1929. The emotional torment caused by her husband in addition to the physical pain she already suffered defined the art created by "Frida."
Producer/star Hayek's long held passion for a film version of "Frida" succeeded where many had failed before her. But while director Julie Taymor's visual sense once again explodes on screen, the irony is that passion is exactly what "Frida" lacks. The film is gorgeous to look at but emotionally flat.
Four screenwriters (Clancy Sigeland, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas) are credited for adapting Hayden Herrera's biography and they tick through the defining events of Frida's life without getting at the minutiae that would make it breath. Her experiences, such as miscarriage, alienation in New York, bisexuality and horrific medical treatments are tied to her paintings, but Kahlo's fierce identification with her Mexican heritage is never commented upon.
Hayek always looks the part, believable as a young schoolgirl sneaking trysts with teenage lover Alex (Diego Luna, "Y Tu Mama Tambien") as equally as a middle aged woman of severely declining health, yet too frequently her delivery is awkward enough to evoke the quotes around her pronouncements. Much more natural is Molina as the bearish, larger than life painter whose politics clashed with his commissions. Support is also uneven. Valeria Golino ("Escape from L.A.") is fiery as Rivera's ex-wife Lupe, but Ashley Judd is out of place as Rivera pal, photographer Tina Modotti. Roger Rees (TV's "Cheers") is touching as Frida's father (despite an accent that wanders a bit) while Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush fails to convince as Leon Trotsky. Edward Norton ("Red Dragon") is fine in a small role as Nelson Rockefeller while Antonio Banderas plays a role so small one wonders why he's credited.
"Frida" soars highest with Taymor's inventive visuals, beautifully realized by production designer Felipe Fernandez del Paso ("Men With Guns"). Watershed moments are shown in paintings which spring to life. Frida's medical diagnosis is given by freakish Mexican Day of the Dead puppets. A simple moment, as a young Frida approaches the building where Diego is working, is striking in the juxtaposition of the flaming red of Kahlo's blouse against a pale yellow church and pastel blue sky, as caught by the eye of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto ("Amores Perros").
The success of "Frida" is that it inspires a desire to know more about the artist. It's failure is that it doesn't suffice in and of itself.
B-
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