VHS Tape Version
DVD Version
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Portrait of an Artist
Frida Kahlo (1983)
VHS Version Produced
By: RM Arts/Hershon Guerra/WDR Production (1983)
DVD Version Produced By: Art Haus Musik/Eila Hershon
& Roberto Guerra (2009)
Narrated By: Sada Thompson (Commentary by Hayden Herrera)
Run Time: 62 min
Language: VHS: English DVD: English, German, French,
Spanish
Synopsis:
This award-winning
documentary (Montreal International Festival of Films - Best Biography
of an Artist) provides a stirring look at the life and times of Mexico's
most famous woman painter, Frida Kahlo. Although the film is old, with
simple editing techniques, it eloquently portrays the artist's life in
the famous "Blue House" outside of Mexico City that she shared
with her husband, the famous muralist and painter Diego Rivera. A near
fatal bus accident, years of traumatic surgery, and endless heartache
left Frida Kahlo devastated, relentlessly transferring her physical and
emotional pain to the canvas. Readings from her diaries, archival photographs,
and film footage offer an intimate portrait of one of the most astonishing
figures of the twentieth century. Narrated by Sada Thompson and commentary
written by Hayden Herrera, this documentary explores Kahlo as the center
of the Mexican renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. Not just as an artist,
but as a tragic figure as it follows her painting career, her growing
interest in politics and her turbulent relationship with her husband,
Diego.
My Opinion:
This film provides
an excellent overview of her artwork, explaining her choice of subject
matter in detail. A great "Introduction to Frida Kahlo"
film. On a scale of 1-to-10 I would rate this documentary an "8".
This documentary
is now available on DVD from "ART HAUS MUSIK" in English, French,
German and Spanish under the title "Frida Kahlo - Art Documentary"
(ISBN: 9783939873167) .
Usually available
on Amazon.com or eBay.com (New and Used).
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Great
Women Artists
Frida Kahlo (2001)
Film Produced
By: Kultur International Films, Inc
Run Time: 45 min
Language: English
Synopsis:
From the Back
Cover:
Frida Kahlo began to paint in 1925 while recovering from a streetcar accident
that left her permanently disabled. Many of her 200 paintings, drawings
and sketches are directly relate to her experiences with physical and
emotional pain. They also chronicle her turbulent relationship with her
womanizing husband, Diego Rivera. During her lifetime, Kahlo did not enjoy
the same level of recognition as the great artists of Mexican muralism;
Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros. However, today Kahlo's work is critically
and monetarily as prized as that of her male peers, sometimes more so.
Comments From
a Viewer:
Kultur's video takes us on a journey of exploration in showing us how
Frida emerged as a painter with her own unique style. The film's narrator
takes us on a chronological tour of Frida's paintings and life experiences
from 1925 to 1954. You see her early attempts of pencil sketches, stream
of consciousness paintings, frescoes and her narrative pictures. Your
eyes are assaulted with her bold use of color, her sexual depiction of
fruit that tells more then you see, and even Frida herself make herself
into both male and female.
This video has done
an excellent job in showing you the finest of this artist's work. She
is inspiring but at times gazing at her works is just too much to bear.
Your eyes may draw away but then end up being hypnotized by the work of
Frida who draws you to her in death as well as life. Indulge yourself
in meditating and reflecting over the message that Frida gives to you.
My Opinion:
The narration in
this documentary is mostly a biography of Kahlo's life. Although several
of her paintings are shown, they are not discussed in great detail. On
a scale of 1-to-10 I would rate this documentary a "6". I prefer
the PSB special "The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo" or
"Portrait of an Artist".
Usually available
on Amazon.com or eBay.com (New and Used).
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The
Life and Death of
Frida Kahlo (1966)
Film Produced
By: Karen and David Crommie
Starring: Friends and Associates of Frida Kahlo
Run Time: 40 min
Language: English (Some Spanish with Subtitles)
Synopsis:
This is the extraordinary
film that started it all: the original documentary that brought Frida
Kahlo out from under the shadow of her husband, Diego Rivera, and into
the glare of world recognition. Frida was flamboyant, outrageous, obsessed
with the child she couldn't have and, above all, an artist who uniquely
captured her life and emotions on canvas. Narrated by the eleven people
who knew her best, the film traces a life that wavered on the cutting
edge of art and politics during the 1930s. This film premiered at the
San Francisco Film Festival in 1966 and was later shown nation wide in
the early seventies. The original 16mm film is now available on video
cassette and DVD but only directly from the film's producers:
Karen & David
Crommie
628 Ashbury St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
TheCrommies@aol.com
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Frida
- Naturaleza Viva
Produced By:
Clasa World-wide Films (1984)
Starring: Ofelia Medina as Frida and Juan Jose Gurrola as Diego
Run Time: 108 min
Language: Spanish with English Subtitles
Synopsis:
This is the original
full-length movie of the life of Frida Kahlo. The film was produced in
Mexico and is said to be "The True Story"…an extraordinary
realization by Director Paul Leduc of the life of Frida Kahlo, the most
admired Mexican painter in the world. In this drama, Frida's life story
is told in surreal deathbed flashbacks resembling her haunting paintings.
The actress Ofelia Medina, who portrays Kahlo, bears not only an uncanny
resemblance, but shares her mannerisms, her dignity and her feverish passion.
Through Frida's eyes we get to know her relationship with the great muralist
Diego Rivera, the Russian thinker Leon Trotsky and the intellectual and
the artistic life of Mexico at the end of the 1940's. The main fault of
this film is the lack of dialogue, so, if you are not already familiar
with Frida Kahlo's life, it will be difficult to understand the plot.
Usually available
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The
Life and Times
of Frida Kahlo
Produced By: PBS
Home Video Special (2005)
Starring: Lila Downs (Voice of Frida Kahlo); Rita Moreno (Narrator)
Run Time: 90 min
Language: English (Some Spanish with subtitles)
Synopsis:
Frida Kahlo was more
than a great painter: She was at times a socialist, a communist, and a
revolutionary. This documentary presents her extraordinary life as a reflection
of her cultural history, her art and the times in which she lived. The
film combines Kahlo's artwork with photographs, archival films and interviews.
This documentary
is an intimate biography of a woman who gracefully balanced a private
life of illness and pain against a public persona that was flamboyant,
irreverent and world-renowned. Kahlo was an eyewitness to a unique pairing
of revolution and renaissance that defined the times in which she lived.
Through the prism of her life and art, this documentary film explores
the ancient culture of Mexico; the Mexican Revolution; the wildfire of
communism that burned through Latin America in the 1920s and '30s; the
innovators in painting, photography, filmmaking, writing and poetry that
congregated in Mexico City; and the revival of interest in popular culture
for which Kahlo has become a symbol.
My Opinion:
This film is a great
introduction into the life and art of Frida Kahlo. If you're just getting
to know her, then this film is a great "Introduction to Frida
Kahlo - 101" course. I highly recommend this documentary….it's
the best I've seen. It presents the best balance of her life story and
her art. The numerous photos and home-movie clips are priceless.
On a scale of 1-to-10
I would rate this documentary a "9". If some, or even just one,
of the movie clips was a "talkie" I'd give it a "10+".
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Frida
Produced By:
Miramax Home Entertainment (2003)
Starring: Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo and Alfred Molina as Diego
Rivera
Run Time: 123 min
Language: English or French (with or without Spanish subtitles)
Synopsis:
Nominated for six
2002 Academy Awards, including Salma Hayek for Best Actress, "Frida"
is the triumphant motion picture about the life of Mexico's most famous
woman artist...Frida Kahlo. This film is an excellent introduction to
Frida Kaho... her life and her turbulent marriage to the famous Mexican
muralist Diego Rivera.
My Opinion:
This biographical
movie is based on books written by Hayden Herrera, a well known author
and authority on Frida Kahlo. Some critics of the film, especially those
in the Hispanic community, criticized the film because it focused too
much on the dark and negative side of Frida's life and not enough on "Frida
the Artist". If you're looking for a film about her paintings
this is not it. One of the other documentaries is a better choice.
Until I saw this
movie I had no idea who Frida Kahlo was….had never heard of her.
After seeing this film I immediately became a HUGE Frida Kahlo fan. What
I like most about her paintings is that they are not paintings of what
she saw, but expressions of her inter most thoughts and emotions. Her
paintings are a pictorial diary of her turbulent, painful, and emotional
life. Watch it and judge for yourself. I rate this movie a "9+".
Usually available
on Amazon.com or eBay.com (New and Used).
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La Cinta
Que Envuelve Una Bomba
(The Ribbon That Ties the Bomb)
Produced By:
Estudios Xystus (2003)
Starring: Andrea Ferrari as the voice of Frida
Run Time: 60 min
Language: Spanish (with or without English subtitles)
Synopsis:
Using rare, never-before-seen
footage, family interviews, and photographs, this documentary explores
the intimate details of the life of Frida Kahlo. This includes her turbulent
relationship with Diego Rivera, her scandalous lesbian affairs, and the
mastering of the art about her anguished life that made her famous.
Directed by Jesus
Muñoz Delgado, with narration by Jose Lavat, the voice of Frida
is Andrea Ferrari, and original music by Eugenio Tussaint. Among the people
who are interviewed in this documentary are biographers Martha Zamora
and Hayden Herrera, psychologist Anando Almazan, historians Teresa del
Conde, and Olivier Debroise, journalist Ana Cecilia Trevino, and painter
(and former Khalo student) Arturo Garcia Bustos.
Usually available
on Amazon.com or eBay.com (New and Used).
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Available
only on DVD.
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Biography
- Frida Kahlo
Produced By:
A&E Home Video (2005)
Run Time: 50 min
Language: English
Synopsis:
From her birth in
the ""Blue House"" to her death just 47 years
later, BIOGRAPHY® explores the remarkable life of Frida Kahlo. See
how she began to paint while convalescing from a horrific accident, and
how she suffered from the consequences of her injuries throughout her
life. See famed collections of her work, and hear from the people who
knew her best, and those she inspired.
My Opinion:
This is a very comprehensive
video biography of Kahlo's life. Her story is told using vintage still
photographs and priceless B/W home movie clips. Also included are on camera
interviews with those who knew her best; family members and former students,
and those who have written books about her: Hayden Herrera, Martha Zamora
and Raquel Tibol. If you're looking for an in-depth discussion of her
art you won't find it in this documentary…very little is said about
her paintings. On a scale of 1-to-10 I would rate this documentary a 6.
Usually available
on Amazon.com or eBay.com (New and Used).
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Frida
Kahlo (16mm Film)
Produced By:
Lola Alvarez Bravo, Jorge Hernández Campos
and Raúl Abarca (1951)
Starring: Frida Kahlo
Synopsis:
During the 1940s
and 1950s, Frida Kahlo posed for numerous photos taken by well known Mexican
still photographers…one of them was Lola Álvarez Bravo. In
1951, Bravo decided to experiment with motion pictures. She and two friends,
Raúl Abarca and Jorge Hernández Campos, embarked upon a
project to produce a motion picture staring Frida Kahlo. Armed with only
an old 16mm camera, they began filming at the Blue House in Coyoacán.
Filming continued every day for a week until Frida's health no longer
permitted her to appear. Bravo, feeling guilty that she may have over
exerted Kahlo, decided to scrap the project.
Not a lot is known
about this film. Some say that also in the film was a young female actress
or companion, and a boy who represented the son that Kahlo never had.
It is thought that this footage was to be a segment of a much larger Bravo
production: "Remembrances of Mexico's Belle Époque" (Remembrances
of Mexico's Beautiful Era).
Some time later
in the 1960s, Bravo lent the Kahlo footage to someone to use in a television
program. It was never returned and never seen again. It's unclear if the
footage ever got used for the television production. Fragments of the
film were found and shown at two 1993 Kahlo exhibitions: Schirn Kunsthalle,
Frankfurt, Germany, March 6-May 23, 1993 and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
Texas, June 6-August 29, 1993.
My Opinion:
The best collection
of "home movies" of Frida and Diego are shown in the
PBS documentary "The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo" available
now on DVD. The film footage in this documentary may be that taken by
Lola Bravo but I have not been able to confirm that. Unfortunately, the
film clips are all "silent movies". As yet I know of
no film footage with sound that would allow us to hear Frida's voice.
If anyone knows of any such footage please email me (Mike).
Send Email.
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