Feature film
Frida Still Life
Frida, naturaleza viva
Paul Leduc · 1983
Synopsis
The film opens on Frida Kahlo's coffin, displayed at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, then finds the painter bedridden, surrounded by mirrors, remembering. In fragments, without following the order of time, it goes back over her childhood, her life with the painter Diego Rivera, her welcome of Leon Trotsky, her painting and her sufferings, in a series of tableaux rather than scenes.
Context
Born of an abandoned project on Tina Modotti, the film was written by José Joaquín Blanco with the director and produced by Manuel Barbachano Ponce for Clasa Films Mundiales. It was shot largely in the Blue House in Coyoacán, with real canvases by Frida Kahlo lent by Dolores Olmedo and the National Museum of Art, and photographed by Ángel Goded. Ofelia Medina plays Frida, Juan José Gurrola Diego Rivera, Max Kerlow Trotsky. Shown at festivals, it was released in cinemas in Mexico only in 1986; it was chosen to represent the country at the Oscars.
Who it is for
One hour forty-eight minutes in Spanish, made of tableaux more than narrative, where little is said; released on DVD in France.
Prizes and reception
Grand Coral for best film at the Havana festival and several Ariels, including those for best film and direction.
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