Frida

While most movies about the lives of famous artists never provide a true sense of what drove their creativity, Julie Taymor's (Titus) transporting film about the life and work of Mexican surrealist Frida Kahlo captures the very essence of Kahlo's creative process through a wondrously rich, freeform visual language that fuses biography with the provocative imagery of her paintings. Passionately played by Oscar nominee Salma Hayek, who personally shepherded the project over a seven-year-period, Kahlo emerges as a complicated, dynamic, proud and intelligent woman whose frequent hardships (being crippled in a bus accident, suffering a tumultuous but passionate marriage to muralist Diego Rivera--played by Alfred Molina) informed her art. Admittedly, Frida (which picked up Oscars for makeup and score) suffers a little from the frequent barrage of expository dialogue used to quickly sum up social philosophies or fill in backstory, but Frida's spirit always shines through thanks to director Taymor's creative vision and Hayek's sensuous performance. Recommended. [DVD extras on this double disc set include audio commentaries by director Julie Taymor and by composer Elliot Goldenthal, the 38-minute featurette “A Conversation with Salma Hayek,” the 30-minute featurette “American Film Institute Q&A with Julie Taymor,” the 19-minute featurette “Bill Moyers Interview with Julie Taymor, a 16-minute interview with Chavela Vargas, a 14-minute “Portrait of an Artist” featurette, the six minute featurette “The Vision of Frida with Rodrigo Prieto and Julie Taymor,” the five-minute featurette “The Music with Elliot Goldenthal and Salma Hayek,” the five-minute featurette “The Voice of Lila Downs,” the five-minute featurette “Bringing Frida Kahlo's Life and Art to Film: A Walk Through the Real Locations,” the three minute featurette “Salma's Recording Session,” a two-minute featurette on “The Design of Frida” with Felipe Fernandez, two visual effects segments (11 min. total), Frida Kahlo text facts, and a soundtrack spot. Bottom line: an excellent extras package for one of 2002's better films.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Jan. 31, 2012—Lionsgate, 123 min., R, $19.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2002's Frida sports a fine transfer and DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Julie Taymor, a conversation with star Salma Hayek (39 min.), an AFI Q&A from 2002 with Taymor (30 min.), an interview with Taymor by Bill Moyers (19 min.), an interview with singer Chavela Vargas (16 min.), the production featurettes “The Vision, Design, and Music” (14 min.) and “Portrait of an Artist” (14 min.), two visual effects featurettes (11 min.), “Bringing Frida Kahlo's Life and Art to Film” on locations (5 min.), “The Voice of Lila Downs” segment on the featured singer (5 min.), Hayek's recording sessions (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: Taymor's visually rich biopic shines on Blu-ray.]