Frida

Theatrical Release Date: 2002 10 25 (USA - Limited) / 2002 11 01 (USA)

UPC: 786936180992

Studio: Miramax

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Nudity, Adult Language, Sexual Situations]

Summary: 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 prot?g?e 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

Category: Drama

Awards: Top Ten Movie of the Year – American Film Institute Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Screen Actors Guild Best Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Makeup – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Cinematography – American Society of Cinematographers Film Presented – Telluride Film Festival Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Makeup – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actor – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: ccSalma Hayek conversation
Julie Taymor feature commentary
Elliot Goldenthal selected-scenes commentary
AFI Julie Taymor Q & A
Bill Moyers' Julie Taymor interview
Chavela Vargas interview
The vision, design, and music of Frida
Salma Hayek's recording sessions
Real locations of Frida Kahlo's life & art
Portrait of an artist
2 visual effects pieces: "Amoeba Proteus" and "The Brothers Quay"
Frida Kahlo facts
The voice of Lila Downs
French language track
Spanish subtitles
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Widescreen version enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs

Frida

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/10/2003

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 123 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 -- Feature
1. Memories
2. "I Always Wanted a Son"
3. The Accident
4. Plans for Recovery
5. Diego's Compliments
6. Another Pretty Girl
7. "Comrades, Colleagues and Friends"
8. Diego and Frida
9. Diego's Ways
10. More Affection in a Handshake
11. The Invasion of Gringo-landia
12. Miracles and Tragedy
13. The Price of Integrity
14. Portrait With Cropped Hair
15. Offering Asylum
16. Alone in Pain
17. Without Loyalty
18. From France
19. Imprisoned
20. Broken Column
21. To Frida!
22. Burn it Blue

Michael Hastings

The life of an uncompromising, iconoclastic artist has never seemed as rote and inevitable as it does in Julie Taymor's Frida, an intermittently engaging but wholly ordinary biography that wouldn't be out of place premiering on a basic-cable channel. Ticking off the events in Kahlo's life like a grade-school filmstrip, Frida's screenplay -- credited to no less than four writers, not including the purported rewrites from Ed Norton -- is full of clumsy passage-of-time indicators and halting, expository dialogue. Luckily, the performers manage to bring it alive somewhat: Though notably lacking in the kind of mythic swagger Kahlo requires, Salma Hayek digs into her long-gestating "role of a lifetime" with vigor. Better yet is Alfred Molina's Diego Rivera, who threatens to swallow the movie whole (both figuratively and literally). To her credit, Taymor attempts to infuse Frida with the kind of broad, expressionistic strokes she lent 2000's Titus -- the movie is nothing if not lush. Cinematographer Rodrigo Pietra renders Mexico as a paradise of reds, blues, and greens, playing up the contrasts between Kahlo's homeland and the steely, blue-gray New York sequences. But however brilliant they often are, Taymor's directorial flourishes are just that, and Frida -- which by all accounts could've been as daring as Vincent and Theo or Before Night Falls -- never rises above standard bio-pic fare. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Mark Amin  Executive Producer 
Rodrigo García  Screenwriter 
Brian Gibson  Executive Producer 
Elliot Goldenthal  Composer (Music Score) 
Sarah Green  Producer 
Gregory Nava  Screenwriter 
Julie Taymor  Director 
Anna Thomas  Screenwriter 
Roberto Sneider  Producer 
Salma Hayek  Producer 
Clancy Sigal  Screenwriter 
Jay Polstein  Producer 
Jill Sobel Messick  Executive Producer 
Amy Slotnick  Executive Producer 
Lizz Speed  Producer 
Nancy Hardin  Producer 
Lindsay Flickinger  Producer 
Mark Gill  Executive Producer 
Diane Lake  Screenwriter 
Margaret Rose Perenchio  Executive Producer 
Salma Hayek  Actor 
Alfred Molina  Actor 
Geoffrey Rush  Actor 
Ashley Judd  Actor 
Antonio Banderas  Actor 
Edward Norton  Actor 
Valeria Golino  Actor 
Mía Maestro  Actor 
Roger Rees  Actor 
Patricia Reyes Spindola  Actor 
Saffron Burrows  Actor 
Margarita Sanz  Actor 
Diego Luna  Actor 

Country: USA