The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo
by Amy Stechler
List Price:
Our Price: $13.48
You Save: $11.51 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Diego Rivera, Leon Trotsky, Lila Downs, Rita MorenoDirector: Amy Stechler
Brand: Paramount
Cinematographer: Buddy Squires
Editor: Amy Stechler
Producer: Amy Stechler
Writer: Amy Stechler
Producer: Maia Harris
Producer: Victor Zamudio Taylor
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Pbs Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo
DVD Review: An Exotic Flower
Summary: 4 Stars
The last time that the name of the Mexican artist extraordinaire, Frida Kahlo, was mentioned in this space was in a review/ commentary of a commercial movie done about her life, "Frida" and an article in the New York Review of Books (May 15, 2008) analyzing her work The article had reminded how much I liked that film, especially the performance by Ms. Hayek (who received an Oscar nomination for her efforts and who bore a striking resemblance to Frida in the film). I have remained fascinated by Kahlo's art (and by her life, intertwined as it was with the fates of the revolutionary artist Diego Rivera, and for a short time, the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky). In the search for more information I ran across this PBS production that goes into much greater detail about her trials and tribulations as a person, an artist, a lover and cultural icon.
The substance of the documentary includes much biographical detail missing in the commercial film that as is almost always true with such commercial efforts spent much more time on her troubled relationship with Diego Rivera and her physical and mental problems that resulted from a severe, life-threatening accident when she was a teenager. This film moreover placed Frida's life in the context of the exceptional cultural milieu that developed as a result of the bloody Mexican revolutionary period from 1910-20, the breaking up the old colonial mentality with its emphasis on European culture and the dominant role of Catholic Church. Additionally, it addressed Frida's various romantic exploits (both male and female including with the above-mentioned Trotsky), the relationship between her art and her inner physical and mental turmoil and her struggle, under the weight of Rivera's fame, to gain recognition as an artist in her own right.
I mentioned in that previous review that the "New York Review" article placed much of Kahlo's artistic work, as reflected in her strong physical and psychic attachment to Mexico, squarely in the camp of naturalist painters. I noted there that I was not enough of an art devotee to make comment on that critique, however, from the several paintings of Kahlo's that I have seen up close that I would argue a little more toward the surrealist school that virtually every Mexican artist in the 1920's and 1930's drew from as they created their work. The various commentaries presented here only make me feel more certain that she was closer to that school than the naturalist school. Frida was, in the words of the French `high priest' of surrealism, Andre Breton a natural self-trained surrealist. That comment hits the mark.
But enough of that argument for now. This film, in its own way, especially through the comments of the "talking heads" that almost by definition are a part of a PBS production, by presenting Frida's various psychic pains (failure to have the children she desperately wanted, her topsy- turvy relationship with Rivera as she tries to make her own space in the art world and the underlying tensions of combining politics and artistic endeavor) gives a very fine gloss on the trials and tribulations of being a Mexican woman artist in the early part of the 20th century.
Note: Another impetus for my interest in Frida is that for this political junkie and admirer of Leon Trotsky the names Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera conjure up political connections as much as art. One of the strands that briefly is given notice here is this couple's relationship with the exiled Trotsky when Mexican President Cardenas granted him a visa in 1937. All sources that I have read and photographs that I have seen have mentioned that Trotsky was smitten with Frida's exotic beauty (to the furor of his long time companion `wife', Natalia). I have noted elsewhere that the old time revolutionaries, especially the Russians, were extremely reticent about discussing personal sexual matters in their memoirs and autobiographies. Trotsky was no exception. Apparently, according to this film, Trotsky and Frida had a brief affair. That clears up a question that I had about a scene in the commercial film. In any case I can now, as always, concentrate on Trotsky's political wisdom. And Frida's strangely exotic paintings.
DVD Review: An Excellent Introduction To The Life And Work of Frida Kahlo
Summary: 4 Stars
If you know little about Frida Kahlo, this video is a good introduction to her life and work. The commentary is well-informed, with many beautiful and novel insights from people who knew her and people who have studied her artworks extensively. The documentary editing is fast moving. The narrators and voiceover actors are first rate. The documentary shows most of the well known photos of Kahlo and most of her well known paintings.DVD Review: Good Documentary
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed the information on this DVD since I am a big Frida fan. I totally recommend to anyone who also likes Frida.
DVD Review: It gets the award for "Best Kahlo Documentary"
Summary: 5 Stars
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 one, of the movie clips was a "talkie" I'd give it a "10+".DVD Review: Precious Little Frida.
Summary: 5 Stars
What more can be said about the life of this amazing lady? I have very, very few public figures I admire, and a general disdain for "celebrity", even though some of those I admire might be called the icons of celebrity. But the life of Frida Kahlo is not only amazing because of the wonder of her art, but, the wonder of her life. From her birth into the revolutionary Mexico of that time, to her early years of rebellion and non conformity (very brave for that time...) to her life altering and terrible accident that left her in lifelong chronic pain, to her furthur life changing introduction to artist Diego Rivera, to her tragic and drawn out death...her life is the stuff of legend. But clearly, for me at least, the two outstanding things about Frida Kahlo were not only her singular artistic expression, but her bravery in simply being "herself." Not impressed with the trappings of fame that would appeal to most, and blatantly verbal about the phoniness of "celebrity", she remained true to herself until the end. The three things most important to her were Diego Rivera, political freedom, and, her art, which she viewed in her lifetime not as the wonder for which it became known, but as the most personal expression of her physical and emotional pain. Never before and not since has the world seen artistic expression, especially at that time in history, so honestly, brutally, graphically, and gloriously expressed as that of Frida. Even the great and renowned and then much more famous Rivera, he of the arrogance , machismo, and infidelity, considered little Frida the most talented and true artist of that time, a sentiment which is very touching in its tribute, especially considering it was made during her lifetime, and not in the hindsight and sometimes altered expression of loss. Admittedly I am late coming in the admiration of this incredible life that so many already are more than aware of. I have only recently gotten around to seeing and purchasing not only the motion picture "Frida", but , the excellent and informative ( if dubbed) ""The Hand That Ties The Bomb." I have found this film, "The Life And Times Of Frida Kahlo", to be the best accompaniment to those others and probably the best that will be produced concerning her life and times. Though I was aware of stirrings of the last decade regarding her life, and had seen but not really "looked at" her art in the past, I admit to being totally smitten, amazed, and surprisingly and unpreparedly adoring upon learning more and actually seeing the amazing art produced from this tiny force of nature. That she not only created some of the most moving and personal images of the past century, but burned with a light so brief but so true and honest and noble, makes my admiration for her all the more. Her revolutionary expression and strength of her identity and ideals might seem in contradiction to her seeming servitude to Rivera, and her view of herself as a simple Mexican girl, but, these are all parts of Frida, and all valid. Often, great art is produced by a personality that is maybe not as interesting as their art, or, vice versa, but..Frida's life was her art and her art was her life. A life that to myself and many others is one of the most amazing and admirable lives of the past century. How startling that in this age of celebrity for no reason and irritating self promotion, that her creative legacy and the appreciation and recognition of her occurred so many years after she left this world.., As Diego Rivera expressed, a diamond amongst many inferior jewels. She remains a true and rare phenomenon. "I hope the exit is beautiful...And I hope never to return."
Description of The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo
Never before has the extraordinary life of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo been framed in relation to the full spectrum of the historical and cultural influences that created her. The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo explores the 20th-century icon who became an international sensation in the worlds of modern art and radical politics. Among those interviewed in the documentary are Carlos Fuentes and Carlos Monsivais. The film is narrated by Rita Moreno; Mexican singer Lila Downs is the voice of Frida Kahlo.General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Man on WireRelease date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $13.37
Price in other shops:
Blue Planet: Seas of Life (Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $17.59
Price in other shops:
Expelled: No Intelligence AllowedRelease date: 2008-10-21; DVD
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops:
Planet Earth & The Blue Planet Seas of Life (Special Collector's Edition)Planet; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $52.97
Price in other shops:
The Beales of Grey Gardens - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $13.60
Price in other shops:
A Haunting in ConnecticutRelease date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $3.53
Price in other shops:
Grey Gardens - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2001-08-14; DVD
Best price: $25.20
Price in other shops:
ReligulousLions Gate; Release date: 2009-02-17; DVD
Best price: $10.20
Price in other shops:
The BBC Natural History Collection featuring Planet Earth (Planet Earth/ The Blue Planet: Seas of Life Special Edition/ Life of Mammals/ Life of Birds)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $85.99
Price in other shops:
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC SeriesWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $19.49
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahloby Marie Pierre Colle, Guadalupe Rivera
Clarkson Potter; Published: 1994-09-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $22.77
Price in other shops:
Frida Kahloby Hayden Herrera, Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Elizabeth Carpenter, Frida Kahlo
Walker Art Center; Published: 2007-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.99
Price in other shops:
Frida by Frida, 2nd Expanded Editionby Frida Kahlo
Editorial RM; Published: 2007-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
FridaRelease date: 2002-10-22; Music CD
Best price: $10.88
Price in other shops:
Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahloby Hayden Herrera
Harper Perennial; Published: 2002-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
Frida Kahlo - La Cinta que Envuelve una Bomba (The Ribbon That Ties the Bomb)Release date: 2003-06-10; DVD
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
Frida Kahlo: The Paintingsby Hayden Herrera
Harper Perennial; Published: 1993-10-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.90
Price in other shops:
The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portraitby Frida Kahlo
"Harry N. Abrams, Inc."; Published: 2005-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.79
Price in other shops:
Biography - Frida Kahlo (A&E DVD Archives)Release date: 2005-07-26; DVD
Best price: $3.29
Price in other shops:
FridaRelease date: 2003-06-10; DVD
Best price: $5.28
Price in other shops: