Edwin Pereyra
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 1998
- Messages
- 3,500
Having just seen this one, I would have to agree with the criticisms leveled by the Mexican film critics. This is definitely an Americanization of a Mexican national afraid to be labeled as a Mexican film.
Real Women Have Curves felt more “Mexican” as it told the story of certain Mexican-Americans living in East L.A. than Frida, even when the latter spends most of its running time set in Mexico. Spanish is treated as a second language to these Mexican characters. Certain dialogue in Spanish that should have been subtitled weren’t thereby losing some of the film’s narrative impact.
Julie Taymor is more interested in giving us rich visual imagery to tell the life of Frida Kahlo instead of a compelling character portrait. In a way she provided the right visuals to a film about real life artists and their passion about painting. Unfortunately, that is not enough. Salma Hayek is asked to carry an entire film on her shoulders. Luckily, there’s Alfred Molina to help her out. For a film about Frida Kahlo, it is the story and life of her husband Diego Rivera that is more interesting and is remembered more.
Hayek is unable to portray the tormented soul of Frida both physically and emotionally – the former as she suffers through chronic physical pain throughout her entire life as a result of a tragic accident and the latter which involves the emotional ups and downs as a result of her husband’s infidelity.
As a low budget film I can understand asking the assistance of other friends who are in the film business to help out. But why do we have to see Ashley Judd, another American, with an Italian-accented English?
In the end, the film is not a total loss as it can be enjoyed at the level Julie Taymor had envisioned it. She always wanted for this film to be focused more on the heroic love story between Rivera and Kahlo. To a certain extent, it works at that level. If that’s the case then I agree that the film should have been titled “Frida and Diego.”
Programming note: Diego Luna of Y Tu Mama Tambien appears in an extended cameo.
~Edwin
Real Women Have Curves felt more “Mexican” as it told the story of certain Mexican-Americans living in East L.A. than Frida, even when the latter spends most of its running time set in Mexico. Spanish is treated as a second language to these Mexican characters. Certain dialogue in Spanish that should have been subtitled weren’t thereby losing some of the film’s narrative impact.
Julie Taymor is more interested in giving us rich visual imagery to tell the life of Frida Kahlo instead of a compelling character portrait. In a way she provided the right visuals to a film about real life artists and their passion about painting. Unfortunately, that is not enough. Salma Hayek is asked to carry an entire film on her shoulders. Luckily, there’s Alfred Molina to help her out. For a film about Frida Kahlo, it is the story and life of her husband Diego Rivera that is more interesting and is remembered more.
Hayek is unable to portray the tormented soul of Frida both physically and emotionally – the former as she suffers through chronic physical pain throughout her entire life as a result of a tragic accident and the latter which involves the emotional ups and downs as a result of her husband’s infidelity.
As a low budget film I can understand asking the assistance of other friends who are in the film business to help out. But why do we have to see Ashley Judd, another American, with an Italian-accented English?
In the end, the film is not a total loss as it can be enjoyed at the level Julie Taymor had envisioned it. She always wanted for this film to be focused more on the heroic love story between Rivera and Kahlo. To a certain extent, it works at that level. If that’s the case then I agree that the film should have been titled “Frida and Diego.”
Programming note: Diego Luna of Y Tu Mama Tambien appears in an extended cameo.
~Edwin