Fans of Salma Hayek’s Oscar-nominated performance as legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in the 2002 biopic FRIDA, which also starred Alfred Molina (AN EDUCATION) are in for a treat with the brand-new insightful and intensively researched documentary FRIDA KAHLO.
Narrated by Anna Chancellor, the film chronicles Kahlo’s entire life from her humble beginnings in Mexico City in the early part of the 20th Century, as the offspring of a German immigrant father and a mixed Spanish and South American mother. Kahlo suffered from polio as a child and then at the age of eighteen became the victim of a horrible traffic accident in which she suffered considerable injuries, which led to her taking an interest in painting thanks to her father who provided a start-off point as part of her convalescence.
The documentary provides an insight into some of the key works of art that defined Kahlo as one of the pioneering figures of artistic discipline and if you are one of those people who gets restless in art galleries and doesn’t get much of a kick out of looking for hours are canvases and paintings, then FRIDA KAHLO is certainly going to give you an incentive to reflect on what you see on walls in many a museum like the National Gallery or Royal Academy of Art in London.
It’s also a snapshot into a life that also affected a culture and revolution in Mexico, as well as Kahlo’s personal life and relationships, particularly with her long-term partner and competent artist-cum-muralist in his own right, Diego Rivera (portrayed by Molina in the Hayek film), as well as the political changes that led Kahlo to an affair with communist leader Leon Trotsky (portrayed by Geoffrey Rush in FRIDA)
The significance of a lot of her life experiences and bonds with some of the darker moments are reflected in the work analysed – and it is a intriguing exposé of a deeper look into how some of the personal and emotional grief comes to the fore in the picture we see from her expressiveness through canvas.
Today a lot of what Kahlo represented in her time is very ground-breaking and revolutionary, with issues and subjects that are as relevant today as they were over a century after Kahlo’s birth. FRIDA KAHLO attempts to take no side into what she was as a woman in a challenging and uplifting time of history – and gives art and film fans a truly broad-minded look at some incredible achievements in the face of adversity, as well as a battle with alcohol and medicinal drugs that led to her premature death in 1954.
Frida Kahlo will be released on 20 October 2020 in over 150 cinemas across the UK including Curzon, Empire, Everyman, Odeon and independent cinemas. For more info, go to:
