I saw Frida for the first time. It starred the effervescent Mexican actress Salma Hayek, who was chameleon-like in this role. Alfred Molina portrayed Diego Rivera, Frida’s mentor and husband for 25 years.
Frida Kahlo (born July 6, 1907) is a surrealist Mexican painter who was catapulted to international fame several decades after her death. She was born to a German father (Guillermo Kahlo had Jewish and Hungarian ancestry) and Mexican mother (Matilde was primarily of indigenous and Spanish descent). At age 18, Frida met an accident that would significantly change her life. She was riding a bus when the vehicle collided with a trolley – from which Frida suffered serious injuries – she broke her collarbone and some of her ribs and the metal handrail pierced her right pelvis and punctured her abdomen and her uterus, rendering her unable to bear children. Though she regained her ability to walk, she was plagued with relapses of extreme pain throughout her life.
Because of this, Frida pursued a full time career in painting. She then approached Diego Rivera, to seek his advice about follow painting as a profession. They developed an intimate friendship and the two later married in 1929, much to the dismay of Frida’s mother.
Their marriage was tempestuous from the very onset. Diego was a womanizer and even had an affair with Frida’s younger sister, Cristina. From this, Frida drew her inspiration – she mostly had self-portraits which often included physical and psychological wounds. Frida would later on mention that she ‘never painted dreams,’ and that she ‘painted her own reality.’
Frida was one of the few artists during her time who were uncompromising of her vision. She was a political, artistic and sexual revolutionary. She was openly bisexual, which made her marriage to Diego even more tumultuous – as the latter knew of and tolerated her affairs with women but was often jealous of her relationships with other men.
The movie depicted the slow, disintegrating state of Frida’s body, but was also able to successfully represent how her tribulations elevated Frida’s sense of self and how this genuinely affected her artistry.
Salma Hayek was impeccable in her character as Frida (this earned her a Best Actress nod in the 2002 Academy Awards). Apparently, Salma also produced the film and was so passionate about this project that she worked on it for eight years. According to Salma, Frida Kahlo’s life and art first made an impact in her when she was 14 years old, and that what really inspired her is Frida’s courage to be unique. Frida was unapologetic for who she was, said Salma. The film was directed by Julie Taynor, and some of the most prominent actors of this era also had a cameo in the film which includes Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd and Geoffrey Rush.
For the movie, Salma actually shaved her upper lip, which didn’t really work (so in short, she’s stuck with it forever), she also wore a shoe a few centimeters taller than the other one, attempting to portray Frida’s limping as accurately as possible.
The film radiates because it showed that tragedy can also be altered and transformed into color and luminosity. It certainly was a feast for both the eyes and the mind. According to Diego (in the movie): ‘Never has there been a woman who put such agonized poetry on canvas.’
I couldn’t agree more.
A few days before Frida died on July 13, 1954, this entry was found on her diary: ‘I hope the exit is joyful – and I hope never to return.’
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