
Brilliant colours that bring Frida Kahlo's Mexico City to vibrant life combine with a captivating performance by Salma Hayek to make director Julie Taymor's FRIDA a fascinating film Starting & ending with Frida on her deathbed the film spans the famous painter's life from her teenage years to her death at the young age of 47 From start to finish Frida is portrayed as a relentlessly energized self-righteous headstrong assertive woman She had liberal views & a socialist political stance She was bisexual & promiscuous She drank & abused painkillers sang & danced & fearlessly poured her pain & beauty into her paintings At the age of 18 Frida was horribly injured in a bus accident Though she learned to walk again she lived her life in physical agony enduring multiple surgeries & eventually needing a wheelchair Yet her condition did not stop her from having an exciting tumultuous life as the wife of famed artist & womaniser Diego Rivera who mentored her in her own work & encouraged her passions While Frida's life is the main focus her work is always present & the action of the film often fades into paintings & vice versa However the film only hints at the recognition & worldwide display that her painting received after her death Taymor has created a lively & dramatically emotive film with FRIDA capturing her endearing resiliency with colour music & of course art