On Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

I watched the movie Frida for the first time in during one of my Spanish classes in high school, and I enjoyed watching the film again but definitely believe that I paid more attention to details this time. In addition, I was more intrigued by the movie this time around due to our readings in the Rochfort book and our discussions in class. I love how Taymor makes Frida’s paintings come to life. I think that this allows the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the meanings behind Frida’s work because the paintings’ animations are shown within the exact context of her creating them.

Frida’s character was the most compelling to me for a number of reasons. I love the fact that her art is now considered “feminist art” because I’m entirely sure creating “feminist art” was Frida’s goal. However, her “do what I want, when I want” attitude is so evident in the film, which I found entertaining to watch. In addition, the multitude of pain and suffering she experiences throughout her life was both difficult and relatable to watch; “difficult” because of her unfortunate accident and the long term injuries she experienced, and “relatable” because of her rocky relationship with Rivera. I think Taymor does a good job of displaying both Frida and Rivera’s lives accurately, based on what we have studied in class.

As Taymor accurately depicts, Rivera and Frida’s relationship was very up and down. They broke up, got back together, cheated on each other, etc. However, I noticed that Taymor focuses more on Rivera’s affairs than on Frida’s. I was a little disappointed in this because I think this is a very important aspect of Frida’s life and of her art.

In the end, I believe Taymor created a moving, truthful piece about the great Mexican muralist, Frida Kahlo. I’m sure that accepting the role as Frida was an easy decision for Sayma Hayek, as it would be an honor to tell the story of such a strong woman, who embodies many cultural aspects of Mexico, that empowered so many people.