Share LunaSol's profile
 
Facebook Twitter
 
 
LunaSol
 
 
 
LunaSol's stats
 
  • Review count
    1
  • Helpfulness votes
    0
  • First review
    January 24, 2009
  • Last review
    January 24, 2009
  • Featured reviews
    0
  • Average rating
    5
 
Reviews comments
  • Review comment count
    0
  • Helpfulness votes
    0
  • First review comment
    None
  • Last review comment
    None
  • Featured review comments
    0
 
Questions
  • Question count
    0
  • Helpfulness votes
    0
  • First question
    None
  • Last question
    None
  • Featured questions
    0
 
Answers
  • Answer count
    0
  • Helpfulness votes
    0
  • First answer
    None
  • Last answer
    None
  • Featured answers
    0
  • Best answers
    0
 
 
LunaSol's Reviews
 
Miramax took a famous painter and turned her art and life into the stuff of which good films are made. The biopic Frida, starring Salma Hayek, is just as enjoyable on the small screen as it was in theaters, if not more so. The packed, educational, two-disc DVD is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, complete with razor-sharp colors and realistic flesh tones. The 5.1 Dolby Digital track is adequate for this dialog-driven movie. No big sound effects were present to test the audio, yet Elliot Goldenthal's score sounds amazing. French is the alternate-language track, while subtitles are in Spanish. On the first disc, the "Conversation with Salma Hayek" provides insight into the actress' eight-year struggle to get Frida to the big screen. Director Julie Taymor provides an extremely detailed and pleasant audio commentary, complete with plenty of artistic inspirations and explanations. Composer Goldenthal's commentary on the musical aspect of the film is also worth listening to. This disc wraps up with some trailers and promo fluff. On disc two, Taymor is interviewed in two segments: a Bill Moyers interview and the American Film Institute's question-and-answer session. Both offer plenty of insight into the director, the cast, and the film in general. Chavela Vargas, singer and Frida Kahlo's lover, is interviewed in a moderately long and rather rambling segment. Three more brief, yet entertaining, music-based extras follow: "The Voice of Lila Downs," "The Music of Frida," and "Salma's Recording Session." "The Portrait of an Artist" is a traditional, behind-the-scenes fluff piece almost required on all DVDs today. It's worth watching, but the more in-depth information is found in the five featurettes. The first of those is "The Vision of Frida." This brief segment deals with the film's cinematography. "The Design of Frida" and "A Walk Through the Real Locations" both deal with Kahlo's art and recreating a historical setting in the film. "Amoeba Proteus" is about special effects, as is "The Brothers Quay." Finally, there is a fact-filled segment on Kahlo facts and trivia. No DVD-ROM extras are included.
 
Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
Honest, Brutal, Bittersweet, like the real thing
on January 24, 2009
Posted by: LunaSol
from New York
5.99!? I demand you all to buy this film now! Its brilliant and pure passion. Frida Kahlo was an enigmatic human being, and her existence was anything but ordinary. It translates into a unique story of one woman's life, her (many) lovers and one great love, the painter Diego Rivera,(wonderfully portrayed by Alfred Molina), her pride for her vibrant culture and country of Mexico, and how she took the many adverse and tragic occurences in her short life and created them into an organic and real passion and art, a colorful life filled with every emotion. Salma Hayek as Frida was a superb choice, as Salma's empathy and love for Frida truly translates through into her portrayal. I'm one of the many who look at Frida Kahlo and her bittersweet life with awe and admiration, and I adore this movie and have watched it countless times, noticing new surprises and taking in the details I already know and have obsessed over, for it is such an artfully done film that explores the depths without taking away all the mystery of the strange allure that IS Frida Kahlo.
What's great about it: fascinating effects, directing, storyline, acting, all woven to create a striking, raw peice of art in itself
What's not so great: none that I could speak of
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
 
LunaSol's Review Comments
 
LunaSol has not submitted comments on any reviews.
 
LunaSol's Questions
 
LunaSol has not submitted any questions.
 
LunaSol's Answers
 
LunaSol has not submitted any answers.