greeneggst

this is something i wrote 6 months ago for my cinema class ... hope it helps


Frida

Julie Taymor’s version of Frida, narrates the love story between two very complex and fascinating characters, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The film takes a biographical approach, not only encompassing the details of her life, but also taking the viewer deeper into the events that molded her strong personality and paradigm as an artist. Yet the way Taymor paints the picture is what boosts the intensity the film.
From the trolley accident until scene of her arrival at the gallery, Taymor is careful to emphasize the incredible significance of these events and the repercussions they had on the artist’ life. The beginning of film portrays Frida’s teenage life before the accident, which allows us to get a glimpse of her reality previous to the first event that would transform her. The crash condemned her to be chained to a bed for a very long time, and it was during this time the time when she began to paint. She spent enormous amounts of time alone, contemplating herself on the mirror her father installed directly above her head. Due to the fact that she was not free to move around and experience the outside world, her paintings , mostly self-portraits, were reflective of her misery and anguish, and at times reflective of what she wanted to become. Not long after being able to leave her bed days behind her, she approached Diego Rivera, the famous painter she had met in high school while he worked on a mural for the institution. By this time, she had already discovered her passion for the arts and leftist politics and she had painted a sufficient amount self-portraits and family portraits to be able to show Diego. This was an immediate success as Diego bluntly recognized her magnificent aptitude. He reassured her of her innate talent and advised her to keep painting. Diego became her mentor and eventually a love relationship developed between them. Regardless of his infidelities, Diego and Frida got married. She learned to love the Diego she had met without attempting to change his ways. The affairs went on for a period of time where Diego would regularly sleep with his models. After having lived in San Francisco, Detroit and New York, in 1933, the couple returned to Mexico where they would oversee the construction of their new house. It was then when Diego betrayed the loyalty promised to Frida by sleeping with her sister Christina. This affair cost him Frida’s vow to marriage, but most importantly it marked the beginning of a new era in Frida’s life. It was then when she cut her hair and embraced her masculine side, she also realized she was capable of being autonomous. By 1937, the revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia arrived at the blue house running from Lenin’s regime. Frida and Leon had an affair based mostly on Frida’s admiration for leftist politics and the desire to be part of the revolution. Following her affair with Trotsky, Frida left for France to stay with the Bretons; there she was recognized as a rare gem or the arts and appeared on the cover of the French vogue. Eventually Frida and Diego reunited after the years and he took care of her in her dying days. By the end of the film, around 1953, Frida’s work is finally exhibited in a Mexican gallery but her poor health doesn’t allow her to leave her bed, a problem she resolves with cleverness and wit, by attending her exhibition on her bed.

Frida’s story is told in a linear manner. The film takes the viewer from Frida’s teenage life, the accident and her marriage to Rivera, all the way to the exhibition day and finally Frida’s death.

For the mise en scene, Julie Taymor took clues from Frida’s views on life as written in her diaries to piece the film together stylistically. For instance, in the hospital scene when Frida awakes form the accident, she had written to Alejandro, her boyfriend at the time, about everything being cold as ice. Taymor uses over exposed lighting schematics on top of a white backdrop and white hospital wardrobe to interpret the scene. Frida also writes about the experience, and is quoted as saying “Death danced around me”, for this scene, Taymor felt the need to express this literally. She merged Frida’s experience and the Mexican culture, specifically” el dia de los muertos” by means of a spectacular animation which she commissioned the Brothers Quay to create.

The film spans the life of Frida, and it focuses on her 30 years with Diego Rivera. Because of the tremendous span of time covered in the film, Taymor chooses to differentiate between moments in time with increasingly complex mediums. As the film progresses, her means of expressing Frida’s mentality grows in lucidity. The paintings chosen by Taymor as indicators of turning points in Frida’s life separate crucial eras. For instance, “Frida and Diego”, a portrait of the newlyweds marks the beginning of a new life as Diego Rivera’s wife. Another great example of the use of this technique is displayed by the use of the “Henry Ford Hospital” painting which depicts the agony and sadness Frida experienced after the second miscarriage. Moreover, “the broken column “, “las dos Fridas “, “what the water gave me” and the self-portrait with cropped hair symbolize significant moments in the life of Frida’s life as a woman and artist.

In order to understand more deeply what’s trying to be accomplished with the mise en scene it is necessary to analyze a single shot. In the scene where Frida sits con Diego’s lap on their wedding day:

1. The Dominant is Frida because of the direct light that strikes her as well as because of the colors of her dress. Frida is closer to the camera and the contrast between the green and red of her dress attract the viewers attention almost immediately.

2 Lighting key the scene is photographed in high key.

3 Shot and camera proxemics. This is a wide angle shot/Deep Focus shot. The camera is closer to Frida and Diego in the foreground yet all the other characters are in focus as well and play an important role in the scene as the reflection of their facial expressions and posture suggest a statement about the situation.

4 Angle is vaguely high; the ceiling isn’t in the frame.

5. Lens/Filter/ Stock: A wide angle lens is used to capture the depth of field (p.518). Apparently no filter was used and the stock is fast not requiring lots of light.

6. Subsidiary contrast: Our eyes travel from Frida and Diego to Christina who sits in the background with her daughter on her lap like mirroring Frida and Diego’s pose.

7. Density: The image not saturated with information. In the frame we can see Frida and Diego in the foreground and in the background we find Christina and a lady sitting at a table diagonally from Frida; Behind Christina and the couple there are many people standing .Although they add richness to the shot, the image doesn’t seem to be packed with information.

8 Composition: The image is split between foreground and background. Although there are more elements in the background compared to the foreground, the colors on Frida’s dress and the strategic position in which they are placed balances both parts.

9. The form is Closed form, the characters are placed strategically to convey a message

10. Framing is tight. The guests in the background cannot seem to move around freely and Frida and Diego are confined to be close to each other without being able to interact with the rest of the crowd.

11.character placement: Frida and Diego are strategically placed in a way that they are on the foreground together, Christina and her daughter are diagonally behind the couple, and the rest of the guests are packed together in the background

11. Staging positions: Frida and Diego are positioned almost full-front giving the viewer a sense of intimacy with the characters.

12.Character Proxemics are intimate between Frida and Diego, and social amongst the rest of the characters in the scene.

For the photography, Taymor uses muted colors in her films with highlights to accentuate tone and mood, or draw the viewer’s eye to a specific detail. This is not the case in Frida due to the fact that with the help of Mexican director of photography Rodrigo Prieto, Taymor brings the colors and richness of Mexico to life. Both in reality, as seen in Frida’s home, the Mexican market place, the temple of the sun and in Frida’s artistic world, vibrant color combinations are used to expose what inspired Frida Kahlo’s palette. Rodrigo Prieto and Julie Taymor had never worked together before Frida; but understood the vision. Their use of chiaroscuro all through the film, at times enlightens the world we are in or leaves us in darkness illuminating only what is necessary and leaving the rest up to the viewer’s imagination; specifically the scene where Frida is singing at the bar after Diego slept with her sister Christina. The interaction between the singing widow and Frida is illuminated almost by candle light while everything else in the frame is in shadows. The use of chiaroscuro although not prominent in Frida’s paintings was very important to her and its apparent in her personal writing.

The editing in Frida is very complex. There are moments where the editing is practically seamless, as in the wedding celebration scene that is shot handheld. Cuts are almost non existent and mostly not noticeable. Other scenes contain editing that is right in your face as it is the photo montage sequence of Frida and Diego in New York. Through layers and layers of images moving simultaneously to create a collage. This takes the viewer completely out of reality, yet it still relates to the emotions felt by Diego and Frida. Other scenes merge reality and visual effects without a harsh jolt. In many instances Frida simply becomes her paintings on the film and it appears as a natural transformation. Truly a work of art in itself by Taymor and her editor.

As for the acting, Salma Hayek’s performance isn’t the best, yet it is necessary to state that it is mostly due to her passion for this film that the movie was put in production. In my opinion, her acting lacks character at times. On the other hand, the performance of Alfred Molina fully embodies Diego Rivera. His character is incredibly true to the real Diego in many aspects specially the horny behavior. One of the flaws of the film is the lack of authenticity in the character’s accents which in a way diminish the capacity for the film to be 100 ompelling.

So much can be said about the political undertones of the film. Although Frida is displayed as a lover of beauty after politics, Diego’s political views shine through the film. For instance, the scene in New York where portrait of Lenin appears on his mural at the Rockefeller building. The film is packed with political ideologies of communism, the rise of the people etc. Frida is herself extremely political as well, proof of this is the fact that she declared herself as being born in 1910 rather that 1907 to show her support for the Mexican revolution, she wanted to feel as if her life began parallel to the political turmoil. Besides the political tone, Frida also speaks about the strength of a magnificent woman that wasn’t supposed to survive a terrible accident, and even though she never fully recovered from the pain, she was able to incorporate it into her life and canalize it through her art work. It also speaks about love and tolerance; it conveys that true love means patience, endurance and acceptance.

In sum, Frida is a very complex film about an eclectic Mexican female artist, in love with leftist politics and who suffered from poor health through out her lifetime. It is the way the story is told which gives the viewer more than just her artwork, the reasons and passions that moved the artist to create the pieces.

Taymor opens up a window into what could very possibly be the true Frida and provokes the viewer with excessive passion.

ChristineCB

THE JOY OF FONTS

"Knock knock knock... HELLO?!! McFLY?!! You've got to give me time to copy it over in my own handwriting! You wouldn't want me to turn it in with YOUR handwriting, would you, McFly?!!"

greeneggst

it is not to MY benefit to LET SOMEONE ELSE COPY MY IDEAS after all I WAS THE ONE WHO WENT THROUGH THE ANALISYS AND COMPOSITION OF THE PAPER.
so im just putting it out here as a resource for help ... if people decide to copy it or not , thats on them , since they wont be developing any skills

other than "monkey say, monkey do".... therefore , I dont mind if someone copies it

batman

Carry on Camping ????

I wish I had claws.