|
 Movie
B+ |
Video A- | Audio A-
| Extras A
Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Antonio Banderas, Valeria Golino,
Ashley Judd,
Mia Maestro, Edward Norton, and Geoffrey Rush
director Julie Taymor | Miramax Films
2002 | Drama | R | 123 minutes
Region 1 | DVD-9
anamorphic
widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio
|
Dolby Digital 5.1
Summary:
Salma Hayek stars as Frida Kahlo, Mexico’s famous artist known for her candid portraits depicting the emotional and physical pain she
experienced throughout her life.
As a young adult, Frida is seriously injured in a public trolley accident.
The accident left her bed-ridden for months, due to severe injuries to her
body. Doctors say that we would not be able to walk again.
During this time, she developed her talent for painting. Miraculously, Frida makes a full recovery, but the medical expenses drained her family’s finances.
Frida contemplates of becoming a professional painter to help support her family.
She ventures into Mexico City in search of professional critique from the successful painter Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina).
Diego immediately recognizes her talent and offers to take her under his wings.
Though Diego is already married, they quickly fall in love and he proposes marriage.
And though Diego is known for his brief affairs with his nude female models and other admirers, Frida cautions him not to betray her and accepts the marriage proposal.
"You can't be true to one
woman."
"True, yes. Faithful... no. Unfortunately, I'm
physiologically incapable of fidelity.
A doctor acquaintance of mine confirmed this. Is fidelity that
important to you?"
“Loyalty is important to me. Can you be loyal?"
Their life together is enriched with adventure and high profile parties, as Diego takes high paying commissions in the United States.
But his career in America quickly falls apart when he maintains his artistic integrity and refuses to change his painting
philosophy despite political pressures from his client.
Returning to Mexico, their personal and financial lives continue to unravel.
Frida picks up painting again, while trying desperately to make her family life work.
Frida is a beautifully performed and produced movie, thanks to the dedication of Salma Hayek who worked so hard to get this movie to the big screen.
Salma Hayek breathes live into Frida, who we may never have truly appreciated without this movie.
For her stunning performance, she receives a well-deserved Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Alfred Molina is perfect in his role as the temptuous husband. Frida picks up two 2003 Academy Awards, for Best
Music (Original Score) and Best Makeup. As a movie, Frida is a colorful, hard-hitting, and true from the heart as Frida Kahlo’s paintings and life.
The visual elements are dazzling and musical soundtrack is captivating.
Special Features: There's a ton of bonus
features, mostly in the form of featurettes, in this 2-disc edition
release.
Disc 1: audio commentary with director Julie
Taymor; audio commentary with composer Elliot Goldenthal; "A
Conversation with Salma Hayek" featurette; theatrical trailers for Gangs
of New York, Chicago, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind;
Frida soundtrack spot
Disc 2: "AFI Q&A with director
Julie Taymor" featurette; "Bill Moyers Interview with Julie
Taymor" featurette; "Chavela Vargas Interview" featurette;
"The Voice of Lila Downs" featurette; "The Vision of Frida:
with Rodrigo Prieto and Julie Taymor" featurette; "The Design of
Frida: with Felipe Fernández" featurette; "The Music of Frida:
with Elliot Goldenthal and Salma Hayek" featurette; "Salma's
Recording Session" featurette; "Bringing Frida Kahlo's Life and
Art to Film: A Walk Through the Real Locations" featurette;
"Portrait of an Artist" featurette; "Amoeba Proteus"
visual effects piece; "The Brothers Quay" visual effects piece;
Frida Kahlo facts
DVD released on 6/10/2003 | Reviewed 7/13/2003
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Additional Notes: Unless we specify otherwise, the
video and audio quality are very good when their grades are "A-"
or better. Only the highest number of channels of surround sound
format is listed (e.g., Dolby Digital 5.1). If there are both Dolby
Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks, then both are listed. All
DVD-Video discs are backwards compatible with stereo-only playback
systems.
Let us know what you think about this DVD review, write to us at
Editor@TimeForDVD.com.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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