User reviews

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Frida Kahlo is one of the most interesting painters as he background and history is pretty strange yet interesting to learn about. This documentary does an wonderful job on presenting the life of Frida with strong direction, good dialogue read from the excerpts of her diaries that lets us go into the mind of Frida, and strong visual presentations throughout. Filmmaker Carla Gutierrez presents a good insight of Frida Kahlo with interesting presentation choices, structures and documentary vibes throughout which I found to be purposeful and insightful.

I have known about Frida when I was in art classes as a kid and I had seen the feature film about her but this documentary provided some new aspects and ideas about what made her special that I didn't know about. The narration felt poetic and the uses of sound designs and music are really compelling that helps to add the feel to the documentary.

Overall really good.

As "Frida" (2024 release; 84 min.) opens, we are introduced to Frida Kahlo, a painter from Mexico from the early-to-mid 1900s. The documentary reminds us that she left a large legacy of writings including an illustrated diary and letters, and that all commentary we hear are Frida's own words. We then go back to "1910" to Frida's earliest years.... At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this movie is a labor of love from editor Carla Guttierez, making her directorial debut. With the help of several animators, Kahlo's life, works and times are presented on a grand and colorful scale. I was generally aware of who Frida Kahlo was, but didn't know many of the personal details that are brought forward in the documentary, including the devastating bus crash that she was involved in (in 1925), which had significant physical consequences the rest of her life. Part of the charm of this documentary is also looking back at what life was like in the 1920's-30's-40's. Check out the footage of when Friday and her husband (the renowned Mexican painter Diego Rivera) visit New York and Detroit in the early 1930's. Not to be picky, but couldn't Guttierez come up with a better film title than the generic "Frida"? That aside, I found this documentary thoroughly enjoyable (and, dare I say, educational) from start to finish.

"Frida" premiered at this year's Sundance film festival, to immediate critical acclaim. The movie is currently rated 905 Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. The movie started streaming on Amazon Prime Video 2 weeks ago, and I caught up with it last night. If you have any interest in arts, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

Creating this kind of documentary must have been difficult. The years we are talking about are 1907 - 1954 so although there are some original film from those years it is not enough to make a full-length movie, however the directors here choose to almost verbatim read off Frida's diary which is surprisingly reach and spans over many years. Also photos and archives of the actual art and people that are involved. The outcome is mesmerizing and although I'm not a big fan of these kind of documentaries it was interesting enough for a 90 minutes watch.

This is not a kind of a movie that would be a block-buster hit. It is not a person that everyone knows, her life, although very bohemian and flamboyant is still confined to art lovers. And it is a documentary, not showing any actors at all, only real people voices or voice-over. Having said that, I did watch Frida Kahlo movie from 2002 in which she is portrayed by Salma Hayek, and I think this documentary is actually better, in a sense that you are getting what really happened and not a mere Holywoodic mirror of it.

One criticism I do have for this movie is the animation of Kahlo's paintings, which from art perspective is unique and refreshing, but for me sometimes I couldn't tell what was a real painting and what was an artist or CGI alteration of it. I wish they would show the actual art as is, unaltered.

People who decide to watch this movie should be aware of the nudity imagery that this documentary contain, but if you are in learning mode, history and art, you'll find a beautifully made movie and a truly deep life lesson. This movie is absolutely a must for art students and people that have a thirst for knowledge.

Exact score: 77 / 100.

I am a fan of biopics, especially of creative people, such as artists, writers and musicians. In my opinion a fatal flaw of some biopics is the actual inclusion of the subject talking about herself. Seeing that the cast consists of only Frida herself and the fact that I am not a fan of recent films I was fully prepared to give this a rating of 5, but Frida Kahlo is an interesting person and so I felt I had to watch it even if I hated it. But the fact that Frida has been dead for about 70 years and had nothing to do with the production of the film allowed this to be not just good but a fantastic film. A large amount of the material comes from her diaries and paintings, many of them self portraits, and in these Frida was very honest about herself. One feature is that many of her paintings are partially animated. Again, this could have been bad but it was tastefully done so enhanced, rather than spoiled, the film. Fortunately these animations were done before the current AI which would just make her art works into cartoons.

I knew the artist Frida Kahlo and the pain she endured but I didn't know her as a human! This film/documentary completed my knowledge about this human artist person. I found so many thoughts that she had that agreed with mine and I started to feel a strong bond with her and her suffering. She was a true woman, no ifs or buts! She saw the world through a curtain of pain and suffering and few shiny openings available to her. I never had the wish and urge to own one of her paintings but now I feel it would be the greatest honour to own one which of course will never happen because her paintings demand top prices so I have to succumb to having only copies of her works in my home. Frida saw through the superficiality and frivolosity of vain humans and thoroughly hated them. I wonder if those sentiments only existed because of her suffering . In any way her pain gave us wondrous artworks as mirrors into her soul and show through colour and animation that not all of her sentiments were born of hate and despair and that there was always a glimmer of hope to her desolate existence which in her last years seemed to have completely resolved into nothingness and the wish to finally leave this hurting world and to die! I am an atheist ever since I was a child as she was and believe there is nothing after death not even blackness and we return back to the smallest particles of the universe to create something new in an infinite cycle of life and death! Frida Kahlo managed to make herself immortal through her paintings and that is something few of us will achieve ! RIP Frida Kahlo!

According to her bio, Frida Kahlo painted because she must. This was the only way she could express herself. Collected letters, personal writings, and an illustrated diary are all used breathe life into the new biopic, Frida. Her mom was obsessively religious, her father a photographer, a reader and an atheist. Frida was rebellious, drawn to the bad boys. For years she wore men's suits instead of dresses. Laughed when her classmates strapped fireworks to a dog and let him run around their school.

She and her first love, Alejandro, were involved in a terrible traffic accident in Mexico, when she was quite young. They thought Frida would not survive. Though she did not succumb to her injuries, she endured months of casts and terrible pain every day, though this never stopped her from creating iconic self-portraits throughout her life.

Using animation to bring movement to her artwork, plus adding splashes of color to newsreels and archival footage, Frida's production team recreates the artist's life and times in sound and visuals. Kahlo was a self-described communist. She, and other Mexican artists of the time, such as muralist Diego Rivera, used their talents to emphasize the spirit of the revolution. She and Rivera began an intimate relationship, eventually marrying. Kahlo's own style evolved to become more like Rivera's.

What's fascinating here is that in Frida, Kahlo comes across in real life as joyous, and not the dour woman we expect her to be, based on her self-portraits. Understanding that she was in constant pain does help one to comprehend the reason her portraits seem to project stern aloofness. In her writings, she also expresses her disgust at the conditions of the workers in America in the early 20th century, the extreme divisions between rich and poor.

Kahlo has multiple affairs with scholars and artists of the time, including Leon Trotsky and Georgia O'Keefe. Rivera, too, has multiple affairs including one with Frida's own sister. Eventually the couple divorce.

Kahlo then becomes more prolific, pushing forward with her take on artistic surrealism, though she had no idea at the time that she was part of that movement. Then, just as quickly, the whole NY art scene sickens her, pushing her in her creative journey. Like many artists, she finds some happiness but also experiences deep depression.

I'm honestly unsure what type of audience will appreciate the film. I feel that it would play tremendously well if it were accompanied by an exhibition of her work, perhaps running at a venue like the Dali Museum in St. Pete.

I was fortunate to attend a sneak preview of this film the other day in a theatre. What a great experience. The movie is narrated from Frida's notebooks, and you really feel like you know her after seeing this remarkable film.

It utilizes her paintings in an innovative way. Adding animation to these scenes really brings her story to life. I knew she was in a tragic accident when she was young, but I had no idea just how much it affected her life. And it gives you a clear picture of what a self-centered jerk Diego Rivera was.

But you also have a great deal of admiration for Frida as an artist, and also as a Bohemian personality. What a life!

MovieJunkieMark.

The creator of the film used Frida's art , her writings and media then remixed it. Basically, when Frida was painting one thing, taking still shots photos or writing her items are blended into different time frames that are not accurate.

This is more of a creator showcasing their software blending skills with Frida's life and not your typical historical documentary or Hollywood True Story re-invented. This is not a spoiler rather a review of what to expect. The story plot still exist without me giving away the plot for the person who flagged my review as a spoiler. It's common sense. I wasn't a fan of the remixing of Frida's data with different time waves as it can take away facts from a documentary however I did watch the entire thing. Films are meant to evoke emotion or interest and the film did that.

The film is an introduction to software use heavily in documentary combined with Frida's sole heir niece selling the copy rights off to Frida's art to Frida Kahlo Corporation (FKC) who in my opinion did not do a professional and historical justice of Frida. Love her or hate her; she is still a legend, depicted poorly from the creators own juice...

FYI I am a fan of Hybrid or Ai created art showcases however given Frida's status she shouldn't of been depicted with the latter until we see how generations after us proceed otherwise she may get lost with the times.

This documentary is gorgeous. The documentary itself makes you feel as if you are in a beautiful but dark and painful dream - which is wild because that is her artwork, itself. I watched this completely sober and felt like I was in a trance - taken back into history while floating around in Frida's paintings and pictures. I've been a Frida fan for a while, and probably like so many people, I find the darkness of her life intriguing. Especially the pain of her and Diego's relationship. This documentary gives a lot of insight into that relationship, but it also makes it very clear that Frida is more than that relationship which is what I think she would have wanted. Thank you to the creators of this - it's innovative and beautiful. To the woman reading her diary, notes, etc. - seriously amazing job.

A current documentary airing on Prime about the famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Using her own words from her writings, observations & even her own artwork to trace her beginnings as a young girl who fell into art, mostly doing portraits of herself, becoming the sole young woman in her art school attendance. Never gaining much traction w/her work & the public, she did find comradeship w/Diego Rivera, her vaulted fellow countryman who even put her in one of his murals. Seeing this newfound attention got her her own show but soon enough the lack of sales & the pretentiousness of the clientele made her long for home coupled w/the fact that her marriage to Rivera was on the rocks, made the decision an easy one especially since she was becoming gender fluid w/her bed partners while also going through numerous spine operations (due to a railcar accident she endured when she was younger). Never completely losing her will to recreate, she continued working even while confined to a wheelchair, to her final days where now she's become the iconoclast she may've secretly already knew she'd become since a biopic starring Salma Hayek (who got an Oscar nomination) was made 2 decades ago & she's becoming a visual icon (a nice use of her likeness appeared in Pixar's Coco) forever equating her art & homeland as intertwined.

What a life! What a love! What a woman! It was one of the best documentary i have ever watched till now, these painting animations totally extra ordinary, i loved narrators , absolutely perfect in every details. I knew some details about Frida but i had no idea too much like that. I think i will never understand what he found in Diego but also i understand she is so sensual and she need to be loved so much . I didn't understand only one thing , some scenes created with AI tech, right ?It was perfect. If you love biographical documentaries, you should watch this because i am so sure this is different. Highly recommend.