Frida fosters frenzied flair of offbeat Bohemian artist
by Ryan Buchanan, reporter

    The extraordinary story of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has been brought to the big screen in a new film starring Salma Hayek.

   Frida brings the acclaimed artist to life in all her drinking, smoking, cursing, sexually curious, five-foot-tall, controversial glory.

   The movie is based on Hayden Herrera’s biography and chronicles Kahlo’s life from a horrific bus accident at the age of 18 to her marriage with famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, played by Alfred Molina.

   Kahlo was injured very badly in the bus accident, breaking her spinal column, collarbone, ribs, pelvis and several bones in her right leg.

   The accident left her in a body cast for over a month and led to many operations throughout her life.

   Shortly after the accident, Frida began to paint to combat boredom in bed.

   Once she regained the ability to walk, she became submersed in the artistic and revolutionary crowd in Mexico, where she met Rivera.

   The film mainly focuses on the strange and open on-again-off-again marriage of Kahlo and Rivera. The two had many affairs, but the injuries Kahlo suffered from the bus accident are the real antagonist.

   Kahlo’s paintings reflected the pain she went through, whether it be her relapses of pain from the brutal accident, her relationship with Rivera or many other tragedies she experienced. Throughout all her trials, she remained positive and expressed her dark side mainly in her art.

   The film also costars Ashley Judd as photographer and actress Tina Modotti and Geoffrey Rush as Communist leader Leon Trotsky. Antonio Banderas and Edward Norton also make cameos.

   Hayek delivers an outstanding performance in a dream role for the actress. Hayek had been petitioning for the role as Frida with several movie studios for more than 10 years before producing her own version for Miramax.

   Hayek and Molina’s onscreen chemistry is very convincing, and both are sure to receive critical acclaim for their performances. But it is director Julie Taymor’s vision that makes the film so special.

   Visually, the movie is beautiful as the perfect compliment to Frida’s own paintings. Taymor’s style is original and a breath of fresh air to what could have been a boring biopic.

   Her unique vision is highlighted by unusual visuals including a hospital sequence straight from Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas and several sequences where Frida’s paintings come to life.

   This film is for anyone interested in a unique, original film in which the director expresses herself just as much as the artist featured.

   Theater-goers should not be turned off by the indie-film look of the movie or the fact that it is a biography.

   The movie is an excellent story of one who overcomes obstacles and deals with personal darkness in a creative and original manner.

   Frida is rated R for sexuality, nudity and language.