Jan 14, 2008

Wiwille's movie reviews part 28

Biopic films can be a mixed bag for fans of the subject. A lot of times the demons of the person being depicted are left out of the script in order to entertain or personify them into some sort of saintly figure. The ugly side of humans are tossed for a story that's more into hero worship than being an honest portrayal.

Frida is an interesting film if not captivating. Following the life of the painter Frida Kahlo the movie gives a detailed amount of time on the events that happened to her, from her the trolley accident that all but debilitated her to her tumultuous marriage to famous revolutionary artist Diego Rivera. While the movie....wait a minute....what do I care? Selma Hayek got naked in this movie. Multiple times in fact and I for one am all for it....

Okay back to a more constructive critique. The film displays the tortured artist's work in visually creative ways; however convenient to the narrative they may be. We see an event in her life, then she paints about it, wash, rinse, repeat. The story moves at a....Selma showed her boobies yay yay yay....okay I'm better now that I got that out of my system.

While the viewer understands the physical pain of Frida and how it relates to the images she created on the canvas what I didn't understand is the other motivators in her life. Why was she so dedicated to Communism? What drove her love for the womanizing Rivera or did she really love him at all? The movie plays it safe just concentrating on the moments in Frida's life that you'll find in an Encyclopedia, but won't delve into the character any more than what you might expect already. Still it's not a bad movie by no means and it's rather interesting take on the life and art of someone who was almost overshadowed by the cult of personality of her husband. The performances and cinematography are top notch it's paced very...Selma gets naked naked naked naked....okay, whew.

Thanks to Pablog for submitting this for review. Wanna see a film reviewed by Wiwille? Drop me an email or comment and you'll see it soon on Erik's Ramblings. Rules are posted here.

"Meticulously mounted, exasperatingly well-behaved film, which ticks off Kahlo's lifetime milestones with the dutiful precision of a tax accountant." - Manohla Dargis

6 comments:

Miss Ash said...

Hmmm what about a bad film like Poison Ivy 2?? I know WIGSF wants to see it as Alyssa is rather dirty in it....it's just soooo bad. Or Original Sin, Angelina shows some boob I believe if you're looking for naked films :P

Wiwille said...

Miss Ash - Poison Ivy 2 is already listed in the "Bad Movies I love section", but I'll check out Original Sin. I doubt it'll have the great Angelina nudity that Gia has.

Anonymous said...

I think the most important question to raise is this:

How does Salma Hayek's showing of skin in this film compare to her showing of skin in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Mattbear said...

Original Sin has some decent nudity, but not full nudity like in Gia. There is more out-and-out sex, though, but it's not girl-on-girl, so a toss up I guess?
Beyond the sex scenes, Original Sin is pretty forgettable, whereas Gia was a pretty decent movie.

@WIGSF - Salma shows skin in From Dusk Til Dawn, but she doesn't actually get nude. She does in Desperado, but it's fairly short.

Anonymous said...

Angelina's (very young!) boobies can also be seen in Foxfire, which I saw long enough ago to not know what kind of judgement as to its film quality I would pass on it as an adult.

Anonymous said...

I think this movie is absolutely beautiful..and the author of this review concentrated a little bit too much on Salma's ...naked body...There is a lot more to this movie than that...