Frida (2002)
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76% of critics liked it
(151 reviews) -
83% of users liked it
(52,302 ratings)
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… More 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 protégée 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
- Directed By
- Julie Taymor
- Written By
- Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- In Theaters
- Oct 25, 2002 Wide
- Studio
- Miramax Films
Critic Reviews
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Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic
Taymor's triumph is that her film, despite its distance from us in some ways, is pertinent and enthralling.
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Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
Ms. Taymor gets magnificent performances from Ms. Hayek as Frida and Alfred Molina as the oversexed Diego Rivera.
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Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
If Frida doesn't tell us anything that we don't already know, it does dramatize Kahlo's life with a fiery, soulful beauty.
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Susan Stark, Detroit News
Passionate, provocative, hilarious, tragic and just dizzyingly beautiful to behold.
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Steven Rosen, Denver Post
[The screenplay's] flatness ultimately defeats a film that's always a treat to look at.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Salma Hayek
as Frida Kahlo
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Alfred Molina
as Diego Rivera
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Geoffrey Rush
as Leon Trotsky
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Ashley Judd
as Tina Modotti
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Antonio Banderas
as David Alfaro Siqueiros
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Edward Norton
as Nelson Rockefeller
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Valeria Golino
as Lupe Marin
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Mia Maestro
as Cristina Kahlo
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Roger Rees
as Guillermo Kahlo
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Patricia Reyes Spíndola
as Matilde Kahlo
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Saffron Burrows
as Gracie
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Margarita Sanz
as Natalia Trotsky
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Diego Luna
as Alejandro Gomez Arias