Las dos fridas: History and transcultural identities

Abstract

This essay examines the film Frida (2002) as historical cinema. It analyzes the portrayal of the artist Frida Kahlo and her relationship with the muralist Diego Rivera against several backdrops: an earlier biopic (Frida, Naturaleza Viva), the work's relation to what ‘really’ happened, the film's internal narrative logic, and the usual representation of Mexico in US cinema.

Keywords:

• Cinema
• History
• Mexico
• Frida Kahlo
• Art
• Revolution

Notes

[1] Those familiar with Kahlo's painting will recognize that the image of Hayek as Frida utilizes two paintings: Las Dos Fridas and the self-portrait in which she has lopped off her hair and wears a man's suit, ‘Cutting my hair with some little scissors’ (1940).

[2] See ‘The Case of Binocular Vision’, in Bateson (1979, pp. 69 – 70).

[3] Leduc's first film, Reed: México Insurgente (1972), demonstrated an interest in transcultural issues by centering on the activities of John Reed during the Mexican Revolution, although choosing to focus on a gringo was a curious decision for a film made during the effervescence of the New Latin American Cinema (NCLA), a movement dedicated to the tenacious search for the voice of this region.

[4] The script has been reproduced in Leduc and Blanco (1992).

[5] It should be noted that Frida does limp in the period of recovery after her accident, but she loses the limp as the Taymor–Hayek movie progresses. As José Rabasa observed in a conversation, the absence of the limp may also correspond to Hollywood's demand for perfection.

[6] It is difficult not to see contemporary Hollywood cinema as the counterpart of the ‘white telephone’ films of Fascist Italy.

[7] Custen analyzes the years 1927 – 1960.

[8] Custen notes that only certain ‘lives are acceptable subjects’ (p. 12).

[9] See Vanderwood (1992, pp. 221 – 244). See the frame enlargements of Benito Juárez (Paul Muni) and Lincoln's portrait on pp. 43, 46, and 48 of Juárez (Vanderwood 1983).

[10] The article on Frida in the important news magazine Proceso was ironically titled: ‘Frida returns to Bellas Artes speaking in English’ (Proceso, vol. 1358, 10 November 2002).

[11] Custen notes, ‘This idea—that all ills can be cured—is precisely the biopic's message’ (p. 189).