Movie's ratings

    Soundtrack

    Frida (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

    Different stars

    • 1 Lila DownsBenediction and Dream 2:31
    • 2 Elliot GoldenthalThe Floating Bed 1:30
    • 3 Los CojolitesEl Conejo 2:29
    • 4 Chavela VargasPaloma Negra 3:18
    • 5 Elliot GoldenthalSelf-portrait With Hair Down 1:10
    • 6 Elliot GoldenthalAlcoba Azul 1:37
    • 7 El Poder del NorteCarabina 30/30 (Corrido Tradicional) 2:43
    • 8 Elliot GoldenthalSolo Tu 1:23
    • 9 Trio Huasteco Caimanes de TamuinEl Gusto (Son Huasteco Tradicional) 2:19
    • 10 Elliot GoldenthalThe Journey 2:56
    • 11 Liberación, Miguel Galindo, Alejandro Marehuala & Gerardo GarciaEl Antifaz 2:29
    • 12 Elliot GoldenthalThe Suicide of Dorothy Hale 0:48
    • 13 Elliot GoldenthalLa Cavalera 1:40
    • 14 Salma Hayek & Los VegaLa Bruja (Son Jarocho Tradicional) 1:57
    • 15 Elliot GoldenthalPortrait of Lupe 2:14
    • 16 Chavela VargasLa Llorona 2:22
    • 17 Lila DownsEstrella Oscuridad 1:48
    • 18 Elliot GoldenthalStill Life 1:32
    • 19 Trio MarimberosViva la Vida 2:17
    • 20 Elliot GoldenthalThe Departure 2:13
    • 21 Elliot GoldenthalCoyoacán and Variations 2:35
    • 22 Lila Downs & Mariachi Juvenil de TecalitlánLa Llorona 2:20
    • 23 Elliot GoldenthalBurning Bed 1:08
    • 24 Caetano Veloso & Lila DownsBurn It Blue 5:27

    " Prepare to be seduced"
    Country
    Spoken Language
    Runtime 2 hr 3 min
    Budget $12 000 000
    Premiere: World $56 298 862 November 1, 2002
    USA $25 885 000
    Other countries $30 413 862
    Box Office – Budget $44 298 862
    Premiere: USA $25 885 000 October 25, 2002
    theaters 794
    rollout 433 days
    Digital: World March 6, 2012
    Parental Advisory
    • Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

      average

    • Profanity

      average

    • Sex & Nudity

      average

    • Frightening & Intense Scenes

      few

    • Violence & Gore

      few

    Production Companies
    Also Known As

    Description

    A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

    Сast and Crew

    Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo

    About the Book

    Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo is a comprehensive biography written by Hayden Herrera. The book delves into the life of the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, exploring her tumultuous personal life, her passionate and often painful relationship with fellow artist Diego Luna, and her enduring legacy in the art world.

    Author: Hayden Herrera

    Hayden Herrera is an art historian and author known for her detailed and insightful biographies of artists. Her work on Frida Kahlo is considered one of the most authoritative accounts of the artist's life, providing readers with a deep understanding of Kahlo's complex personality and the cultural context in which she lived and worked.

    Book's Correspondence to the Film

    The film "Frida" (2002), directed by Julie Taymor, is based on Hayden Herrera's biography. While the film captures the essence of Kahlo's life and art, it takes certain creative liberties for dramatic effect. The movie focuses on key events and relationships in Kahlo's life, much like the book, but condenses and dramatizes them to fit the cinematic format.

      • The book provides a more detailed and nuanced exploration of Kahlo's life, including her political views, health struggles, and artistic development.

      • The film, while visually stunning and emotionally engaging, simplifies some aspects of her life to maintain narrative flow and audience engagement.

    Overall, the film remains largely faithful to the spirit of the book, capturing the vibrant and tumultuous life of Frida Kahlo as portrayed by Salma Hayek.

    The Real Story Behind "Frida" (2002)

    Frida Kahlo: The Iconic Artist

    The film "Frida" is based on the life of the renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Born on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Kahlo is celebrated for her unique style of painting that combines elements of surrealism, symbolism, and folk art. Her work often explores themes of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society.

    Early Life and Challenges

    Frida Kahlo's life was marked by physical and emotional challenges. At the age of six, she contracted polio, which left her with a limp. Later, at the age of 18, she was involved in a severe bus accident that resulted in multiple fractures to her spine and pelvis. This accident had a profound impact on her life and art, as she endured numerous surgeries and chronic pain throughout her life.

    Marriage to Diego Rivera

    In 1929, Kahlo married the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. Their relationship was tumultuous, characterized by passionate love, infidelities, and mutual artistic influence. Despite their personal struggles, both artists greatly admired each other's work and often collaborated on projects.

    Artistic Legacy

    Frida Kahlo's paintings are deeply personal, often depicting her own pain and suffering. Her most famous works include "The Two Fridas," "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird," and "The Broken Column." Kahlo's art gained widespread recognition after her death, and she has since become an icon of feminism and LGBTQ+ rights.

    Film's Correspondence to Reality

    The film "Frida," directed by Julie Taymor, is largely based on the biography "Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo" by Hayden Herrera. The movie captures the essence of Kahlo's life, focusing on her artistic journey, her complex relationship with Diego Rivera, and her enduring spirit despite numerous hardships.

    • Artistic Representation: The film effectively portrays Kahlo's vibrant and colorful art style, integrating her paintings into the narrative to reflect her emotional and physical experiences.
    • Personal Life: While the film takes some creative liberties, it remains faithful to the key events and relationships in Kahlo's life, including her marriage to Rivera and her numerous health struggles.
    • Cultural Context: The film also highlights the cultural and political atmosphere of Mexico during Kahlo's lifetime, providing a backdrop for her personal and artistic development.

    Overall, "Frida" offers a compelling and visually stunning portrayal of Frida Kahlo's life, capturing both her artistic genius and her indomitable spirit.

    Production

    The film version of Frida Kahlo's life was initially championed by Nancy Hardin, a former book editor and Hollywood-based literary agent, turned early "female studio executive", who, in the mid-1980s wished to "make the transition to independent producing." Learning of Hayden Herrera's biography of Kahlo, Hardin saw Kahlo's life as very contemporary, her "story... an emblematic tale for women torn between marriage and career." Optioning the book in 1988, Hardin "tried to sell it as an epic love story in the tradition of Out of Africa, attracting tentative interest from actresses such as Meryl Streep and Jessica Lange, but receiving rejection from the film studios. As Kahlo's art gained prominence, however "in May 1990 one of Kahlo's self-portraits sold at Sotheby's for $1.5 million, the highest price ever paid at auction for a Latin American painting." Madonna "announced her plans to star in a film based on Frida's life", and Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions reportedly "envisioned a joint biography of Rivera and Kahlo." In the spring of 1991, director Luis Valdez began production on a New Line feature about Frida Kahlo starring Laura San Giacomo in the lead. San Giacomo's casting received objections due to her non-Hispanic ethnicity, and New Line complied with the protesters' demands, and left the then-titled Frida and Diego in August 1992 citing finances. Hardin's project found itself swamped by similar ones:

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    Critique: 16

    63%
    10 6

    It’s enough to make you scurry off to find a book about Frida Kahlo – which is, perhaps, the ultimate compliment for a film bi...

    film.avclub.com January 7, 2020

    Salma Hayek finally ushered her dream project into production, but her impassioned lead performance lacks the necessary gravitas for the role, mist...

    calendarlive.com October 24, 2002

    Meticulously mounted, exasperatingly well-behaved film, which ticks off Kahlo’s lifetime milestones with the dutiful precision of a tax...

    RogerEbert.com November 1, 2002

    Sometimes we feel as if the film careens from one colorful event to another without respite, but sometimes it must have seemed to Frida Kahlo as if...

    ae.freep.com November 8, 2002

    No matter what happens to Hayek from this point on, she leaves us Frida.

    Austin Chronicle November 10, 2002

    It’s a competent and nicely designed biopic that for all of the director’s attempts to link surrealist film imagery with Hayek&rsq...

    ReelViews October 23, 2002

    It’s just disappointingly superficial – a movie that has all the elements necessary to be a fascinating, involving character study...

    New Yorker January 7, 2020

    Smart, willful, and perverse, this Frida is nobody’s servant, and the tiny Hayek plays her with head held high. You may want to laugh now and...

    Newsweek November 1, 2007

    It wasn’t a bad idea to conceive of the film as an epic, complex love story between Frida and Rivera, but the passion between them is mo...

    USA Today October 25, 2002

    This is undoubtedly the strongest performance of [Hayek’s] career, and her passion for the project is palpable.

    matineemag.com November 10, 2002

    Just as in Kahlo’s life, Rivera is the commanding centrifugal force of Taymor’s film, and remains the best reason to sit through the ot...

    Slant Magazine October 23, 2002

    Though Frida is easier to swallow than Julie Taymor’s preposterous Titus, the eye candy here lacks considerable brio.

    The Guardian January 6, 2020

    The plodding, glumly literal screenplay holds this otherwise expressive biopic back, but it’s still a colourful and entertaining watch.

    Salon.com October 31, 2002

    Taymor’s movie version of Kahlo’s life, Frida, makes the artist seem more like a human being and less like a craft-fair novelty th...

    SFGATE November 1, 2002

    A domestic melodrama with weak dialogue and biopic cliches.

    BBC February 18, 2003

    While Frida is no masterpiece, it’s nevertheless worth the price of admission to see Hayek master her craft.

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    Quotes

    I had two big accidents in my life Diego, the trolley and you… You are by far the worse.

    At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.

    I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to.

    I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.

    Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?

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