The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo

Whether you want to check the accuracy of biographical film about Frida Kahlo starring Salma Hayek, or would simply like to learn more about the career of the noted Mexican artist, this slick PBS documentary will fill the bill nicely. Combining a wealth of still photos, archival footage, close-up views of Kahlo's paintings, and interviews with former students, admirers, and experts, Amy Stechler's The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo tells Kahlo's story with enthusiasm and considerable visual elegance, covering her family upbringing, the accident that would keep her in pain for the rest of her life, her difficult relationship with the artist Diego Rivera, the flamboyant style she adopted to mask her disability, and her political activism, as well as her artistic achievements. What emerges is a rounded if necessarily selective portrait not only of an important artistic figure of the 20th century, but also of a vibrant and passionate woman whose struggles--emotional, physical, and political--make for a story that's in some ways wrenching and in others strangely uplifting. DVD extras include additional material from the interviews with Kahlo's students. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)