Brilliant colors 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 and 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. 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, and eventually needing a wheelchair. Yet her condition did not stop her from having an exciting, tumultuous life as the wife of famed artist and womanizer Diego Rivera, who mentored her in her own work and encouraged her passions. Frida had liberal views and socialist politics. She was bisexual and promiscuous. She drank, abused painkillers, sang and danced, and fearlessly poured her pain and beauty into her paintings. Taymor has created a lively and dramatically emotive film with FRIDA, capturing her endearing resiliency with color, music, and, of course, art.

Theatrical release: October 25, 2002 (NY/LA)

DVD Features:

Region 1
2-Disc Set

Disc #1: Theatrical Version
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary - 1. Julie Taymor - Director
2. Elliot Goldenthal - Composer (On Select Scenes)
Interview - 1. Salma Hayek - Star
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus

Disc #2: Supplementary Material
Additional Release Material:
Additional Footage - 1. Salma's Recording Session
2. The Brothers Quay Visual FX Piece
3. Amoeba Proteus Visual FX Piece
Interview - 1. Julie Taymor - Director (by Bill Moyers)
2. Chavela Vargas
3. AFI Q&A With Julie Taymor
Featurette - 1. THE VOICE OF LILA DOWNS
2. THE VISION OF FRIDA: With Rodrigo Prieto and Julie Taymor
3. THE DESIGN OF FRIDA: With Felipe Fernandez
4. THE MUSIC OF FRIDA: With Elliot Goldenthal and Salma Hayek
Documentary - 1. Bringing Frida Kahlo's Life and Art to Film: A Walk Through the Real Locations
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Text/Photo Galleries:
Frida Kahlo Facts

Distributor Notes: Frida

Nominated for six 2002 Academy Awards(R), including Salma Hayek for Best Actress, FRIDA is the triumphant motion picture about an exceptional woman who lived an unforgettable life! A product of humble beginnings, Frida Kahlo (Hayek) earns fame as a talented artist with a unique vision. And from her enduring relationship with her mentor and husband, Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina -- CHOCOLAT), to her scandalous affairs, Frida's uncompromising personality would inspire her greatest creations! Also starring Antonio Banderas (SPY KIDS), Ashley Judd (KISS THE GIRLS), Edward Norton (RED DRAGON), and Geoffrey Rush (QUILLS).

Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Salma Hayek: Actress, FRIDA
Alfred Molina: British Actor
Valeria Golino: Italian Actress
Mia Maestro: Argentine actress, ALIAS
Ashley Judd: American Actress, DOUBLE JEOPARDY (1999)
Geoffrey Rush: Australian Actor, QUILLS (2000)
Edward Norton: Actor/Director
Roger Rees: British Actor/B. Wales

Julie Taymor: 

Sarah Green: Producer/ "The Secret of Roan Inish"
Salma Hayek: Actress, FRIDA
Jay Polstein: Producer, FRIDA (2002)
Lizz Speed: Producer, FRIDA (2002)
Nancy Hardin: Producer, FRIDA (2002)
Lindsay Flickinger: Producer, FRIDA (2002)
Roberto Sneider: Producer, FRIDA (2002)

Clancy Sigal: Screenwriter, FRIDA (2002)
Diane Lake: Screenwriter, FRIDA (2002)
Gregory Nava: American Director/Screenwriter
Anna Thomas: 

"...Salma Hayek and director Julie Taymor have infused FRIDA with a visual style unique and inherent to the titular character's paintings and in the process created a masterful work of art of their own..."
"...Julie Taymor's robust and imaginative direction highlights Kahlo's passionate love for fellow painter Diego Rivera....Salma Hayek makes the character an icon of female independence, courage and nonconformity..."
"...It honors the artist's brave, anarchic spirit....Ms. Hayek and Mr. Molina are both wonderfully charismatic..."
"...[Taymor] creates a vibrant world. Kahlo's surrealistic paintings come to multidimensional life in gorgeous ways, and the tale unfolds in brilliant hues as captivating as Kahlo and Rivera's art..."
"...Taymor sprinkles her movie with glittering miniature theater pieces..."
"...Taymor brings Kahlo's art to life....This picture is a portrait of the artist as a human being -- volatile and passionate, but also decent and, yes, sane..."
"...Hayek's motivated performance saves the day...along with some inventive expressionistic flourishes..."