"FRIDA"
(2002) (Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Heavy	Extreme	Moderate	Moderate
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	Mild	*None	Extreme
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Extreme	Extreme	Heavy	Heavy	Heavy

---

QUICK TAKE:

Drama: A look at the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, her work and her tumultuous marriage to fellow artist Diego Rivera.

PLOT:

It's 1922 and Frida Kahlo (SALMA HAYEK) is a student in Mexico City who enjoys hanging out with her boyfriend, Alejandro Gomez Arias (DIEGO LUNA), and spying on legendary local artist Diego Rivera (ALFRED MOLINA) fooling around with his nude model.

Yet, a bad bus accident soon leaves Frida horribly injured and her parents, Guillermo (ROGER REES) and Matilde (PATRICIA REYES SPINDOLA), and sister, Cristina (MIA MAESTRO), fear she may never walk again. Things get worse when Alejandro announces he's off to study and then live abroad, leaving Frida all alone and bed-ridden.

To console her, Guillermo brings her an easel and canvas she can use in bed and Frida then teaches herself how to paint, although her initial subject is herself in various self-portraits. Once partially healed and able to walk again, she approaches Diego and asks if he'll look at her paintings.

He's impressed and soon introduces her to a variety of other artists including photographer Tina Modotti (ASHLEY JUDD) and painter David Alfaro Siqueiros (ANTONIO BANDERAS). She also meets Diego's ex-wife, Lupe Marin (VALERIA GOLINO), who still isn't over him and is obviously jealous of Frida.

Nevertheless, she and Diego are soon married, she joins him in the communist party, and their tumultuous professional and private lives begin. Despite his affairs, their various fights and a well-publicized run-in with Nelson Rockefeller (EDWARD NORTON) over a controversial mural in Rockefeller Center, the two remain together. They eventually host exiled Russian leader Leon Trotsky (GEOFFREY RUSH) and his wife, Natalia (MARGARITA SANZ).

With time passing and the strain on their relationship growing, the two then try to figure out what they want and whether that includes each other.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

Unless they're fans of someone in the cast, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo or art in general, it's probably not very likely.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R

For sexuality/nudity and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

SALMA HAYEK plays the famous and strong-willed artist who learns to paint her surreal artwork after a debilitating injury that leaves her in pain for the rest of her life. She has sex with various people (including a woman while married to Diego) smokes, drinks and joins the communist party with Diego.

ALFRED MOLINA plays the famous artist who can't be faithful to his wives, but nevertheless is attractive to many women. He smokes, drinks, uses strong profanity, and is an atheist and member of the communist party.

GEOFFREY RUSH plays exiled Russian leader Leon Trotsky who moves in into Frida's parents' house with his wife upon the insistence of Diego and Frida. He eventually has an affair with Frida.

EDWARD NORTON plays Nelson Rockefeller who becomes upset with Diego for not following his order to remove Lenin from a mural he's painting for him.

VALERIA GOLINO plays Diego's ex-wife who's jealous of Frida but eventually befriends her.

MIA MAESTRO plays Frida's sister who eventually has an affair with Diego.

ROGER REES plays Frida's understanding father who wants her to be happy.

DIEGO LUNA plays Frida's young boyfriend with whom she has sex but who leaves her after she's injured to study and then live abroad.

PATRICIA REYES SPINDOLA plays Frida's mother who doesn't approve of her marriage to Diego.

MARGARITA SANZ plays Trotsky's wife who's mad at him for having an affair with Frida.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

---

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

---

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity consists of at least 11 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phases are also present. Some explicit, sexually related dialogue is uttered, while various sexual encounters (hetero and lesbian) are present and include movement, sounds and nudity (bare breasts, butts and brief/partial full frontal). Various paintings also show nude female and male characters.

Many of those encounters involve people having affairs. Other bad attitudes and additional tense family material are present, as are some thematic issues (miscarriages, communism, amputation, etc.). Various characters smoke and/or drink throughout the film.

Violence includes a person being murdered (briefly seen), a bloody bus accident, a barroom brawl and an attempt on others' lives via machine gun fire into a house. Some of those scenes and others have bloody results and some may be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

---

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

Various people drink at a party, including Diego, and they continue drinking. Tina then says that whoever drinks the most liquor between Diego and David can dance with her. The two try, but it's Frida who drinks the most.

Diego and Frida come out of a bar after apparently drinking quite a bit.

Various people drink and then toast Diego and Frida's marriage. Later, more people are still drinking and some appear drunk, including Lupe.

Lupe and Frida drink.

Various people drink, including Diego and Frida (who quickly downs hers and then has more). Others appear drunk.

Diego has a beer.

Frida drinks.

Diego, Frida and others drink at a reception.

A woman pours liquor from a flask into her coffee.

Frida has a beer.

Diego has a drink.

Frida drinks a great deal of liquor.

Frida again drinks from the bottle.

People drink with dinner.

Trotsky brings Frida a bottle of something that's presumably alcoholic.

Frida drinks with others.

More people drink.

Frida drinks and then imagines someone coming up and having a drink with her.

Frida is given morphine (or something similar) to combat her chronic pain.

People have drinks at a reception, including Frida.

BLOOD/GORE

Frida is very bloody after being injured in a bus accident.

We see a large scar down Frida's back (from the above and subsequent surgeries).

We see lots of blood on Frida's clothes between her legs and on the bed after she's had a miscarriage. Later, we see what's presumably her fetus in a jar (that she paints).

Christine has a black eye (apparently from her husband).

A dog urinates on Diego's artwork.

We see a surreal painting of a person who's been stabbed (reportedly many times) with some blood on the body.

A little bit of blood drips down onto a canvas.

Some blood splatters when a person is murdered.

A painting has some blood in it.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Diego cheats on his various wives with other women (he says that he's pathologically incapable of fidelity).

Alejandro leaves Frida to study abroad and then live there for several years (he tells her the day she comes home from the hospital).

For those concerned with such matters, we hear that Diego is an atheist and both he and Frida are members of the communist party.

While drunk, Lupe disrupts a wedding party.

Christine has a black eye (apparently from her husband).

Diego paints a mural in Rockefeller Center that contains Lenin and refuses to remove it. Accordingly, Rockefeller fires him and has the mural destroyed.

Leon cheats on his wife with Frida.

A person murders another person.

FRIGHTENING SCENES

There's an accident and a bus smashes directly into a building (in slow motion). Many people are injured, including Frida who's quite bloody

We see lots of blood on Frida's clothes between her legs and on the bed after she's had a miscarriage.

A dog urinates on Diego's artwork and he chases the dog with a machete but nothing happens.

Machine gun fire rips through the walls of a house where Leon and his wife roll out of bed to the floor and are okay.

We see Frida in more pain.

For those who don't like needles, there's a shot of a syringe going into an arm.

A person is murdered (hit by something from behind with some blood splatter, but only briefly and partially seen).

GUNS/WEAPONS

Pistol: Pulled out by Diego when Frida jokingly yells out at him to look out (while he's fooling around with another woman) and later used by him to shoot out a turntable.

Rifle: Held by Frida while posing for a painting (and then seen in the painting).

Machine guns and other weapons: Taken up to a roof and put inside Frida's father's house.

Handgun: Shot into the air by Frida to chase off some women.

Machine guns: Used to fire into a house through the walls.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "Why don't you get the f*ck out of here?" "Piece of sh*t," "Whore," "Idiot," "Slut," "Bitch," "Cripple" (how Frida refers to herself), "Pulls it out of his own ass," "Cajones" and "Balls" (testicles), "Gringos," "What the hell /is this/are you expecting from me?" "You bastard" and "Go to hell."

The film could inspire some kids, particularly girls, to take up painting.

A man spits at another.

JUMP SCENES

None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

A mild amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

None that we heard, but some songs had Spanish lyrics that we didn't understand, thus offering the possibility of potentially objectionable lyrics.

PROFANITY

At least 11 "f" words (5 used sexually), 3 "s" words, 2 slang terms for breasts ("t*ts" and "melons"), 4 damns, 3 hells, 2 asses, 1 S.O.B., and 1 use each of "G-damn," "Dear God" and "Oh my God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY

As students, Frida and some men rush in to see Diego and a nude female model posing for him (he's painting her). We see the nude woman and Diego's wife comes in and accuses him of sleeping with her ("Are you planning to have her after lunch or have you f*cked her already?"). The wife then storms off and the painter says, "So much for lunch. Although I could eat you perhaps." We see more views of her bare breasts and the painter runs his hand down her chest. He's then partially on top of her and runs his hand across her chest. He then kisses down her chest as she reclines back, but Frida jokingly yells out for him to look out and nothing else happens.

We hear sexual sounds and then see Frida having sex with Alejandro (standing in a closet). We see passionate kissing and movement in the head and shoulders shot. We then see her bare breasts and hear many more sounds. When they're done, she comes out of the closet and we see her bare breasts again.

We hear that the bus accident that injured Frida sent a rod through her body and out her vagina. Frida later comments that the hand rail took her virginity (what she apparently told the doctor regarding her having sex with Alejandro). She then tells Alejandro that when she gets out of the cast, she'll show him a couple of things that she remembers from before. She then puts her hand on his crotch and gropes him there.

We see Frida's cleavage.

We see Frida's bare breasts when her full body cast is removed.

While at a party, Lupe tells Frida that you wouldn't know that Diego has had half the women there.

Everyone at a party watch Frida and Tina (who wears a very low-cut dress in the back) do something of a sensual dance together (including Tina running her hand down to Frida's cleavage and Frida running her hands along Tina's clothed body and kissing her neck). The two then briefly kiss.

Frida tells Diego that he's mistaken if he believes she's going to sleep with him just because he's taken her under his wing. He says he was womanizing before she came along and then says, "Sex is like pissing. People take it much too seriously." He then adds that in Russia, everyone was "f*cking like rabbits." He then promises that they won't sleep together and will only be friends. She then suddenly passionately kisses him. We then see them sitting on the edge of a bed passionately kissing. He undoes her shirt and we see her in her bra (under which he then runs his hand). He then pulls her backwards on top of him (the scene ends there, but it's implied that they have sex).

As Diego holds up two cantaloupes, Frida comments on a man having bigger "melons than mine." She then holds something to her like a penis and he comments on liking a woman with "large cajones."

We see Diego and Frida in bed (her head on his chest) presumably after sex (we see the tops of her breasts in her nightgown). There's more passionate kissing and he runs his hand along her clothed body.

A painting in the background of a shot shows a bare-breasted woman.

We see partial full frontal nudity (bare breasts and some loin area) of a reclining woman as she poses (the sketch of her shows the same and some pubic hair). Frida then says that the "t*ts" in the painting don't show gravity (as she grabs her own).

A painting shows a male bare butt.

Frida accuses Diego of having an affair and he explains it away by saying it was just a "f*ck." Frida then wonders if the woman was any good. When he replies not really, she says that's too bad since the woman has a "great ass."

A person gropes a woman's clothed butt at a party.

While seated in a restaurant, Frida runs her hand up the inside of a woman's thigh.

A painting shows female full frontal nudity.

We see the top of Frida's bare breasts in the bathtub.

Frida returns home to find a nude woman on top of Diego (we see her bare butt).

We briefly see a couple making out.

Frida uses the "f" word sexually.

We see more paintings featuring bare-breasted women.

We see Trotsky on top of Frida (after picking her up and carrying her off) and she's moving beneath him (seen in a head and shoulders shot suggesting sex). The next day, he grabs and passionately kisses her.

Frida tells Diego that her affair with Leon was "just a f*ck."

We see a sensual and steamy lesbian encounter between Frida and another woman with nudity (bare breasts and butts), caressing/groping (including a hand at the crotch) and passionate kissing.

We see bare breasts and then in a painting.

SMOKING

Frida smokes more than 10 times, while Diego smokes cigars around 5 times and various minor or miscellaneous characters smoke in many different scenes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

Frida and Diego have a tumultuous marriage where both have affairs and fights (and she has a miscarriage). We then see them living in separate, but connected houses. She's also mad at Diego and Christina (her sister) for having an affair, and they're eventually divorced.

We hear that Diego has been married twice before.

Christine has a black eye (apparently from her husband who she says she's left).

Frida gets word that her mother is sick and we then see a funeral scene. Later, Frida visits her lonely father.

We hear Leon and his wife arguing after she correctly suspects him of having an affair with Frida.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

The historical accuracy and/or any artistic license taken in telling this story.

How many people learn or take up new skills while recuperating in bed that then become the driving force and/or occupation for the rest of their lives.

Artists, their art and their inspiration for that.

Fidelity vs. loyalty in a marriage.

Bisexuality.

Communism.

Miscarriages.

Gangrene.

VIOLENCE

A woman throws something at her cheating husband.

There's an accident and a bus smashes directly into a building (in slow motion). Many people are injured, including Frida who's quite bloody (and there's talk that some rod entered her body and exited via her vagina).

After getting into an argument with another man, Diego pulls out his pistol and shoots out a turntable.

There's something of a barroom brawl after Frida throws liquor in a man's face. Diego throws a guy backwards and is then grabbed, while Frida hits a guy on the head with a bottle. Some punches are thrown.

We see a clip from "King Kong" where a man is in Kong's mouth (but no blood or gore).

Diego violently jabs a knife into a painting in anger.

After Frida catches Diego having sex with another woman, she throws things at him.

Frida shoots a gun into the air to chase off her mother's sisters who've arrived to pray on her property.

Machine gun fire rips through the walls of a house where Leon and his wife roll out of bed to the floor and are okay.

A person is murdered (hit by something from behind with some blood splatter, but only briefly and partially seen).

Reviewed October 7, 2002 / Posted November 1, 2002

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2022 Screen It, Inc.