Frida
Just because the subject of a documentary is long passed away does not mean their voice is gone. Sometimes, filmmakers find themselves fortunate enough to have access to a bounty of personal chronicles of a life that allows the subject to help tell their own story. That is the case with Carla Gutierrez’s documentary, “Frida,” which has more than Frida Kahlo’s artwork and images of her 47-year life to go off of; Kahlo also left a treasure trove of essays, interviews, letters and diaries that allow Gutierrez to dig deeper into the Mexican artist’s psyche, and allow her to tell her own story.
The documentary I found myself thinking of as I watched “Frida” unfold is Jessica Yu’s unconventional “In the Realms of the Unreal,” which used a lot of the same techniques to not just engage with the life of Henry Darger, but his work. Animation to bring to life still images, pulling from his memoir to give us glimpses of his life, and using voiceover and personal recollections to give us an idea of the man himself. That film has a kinship to “Frida” in how it explores Kahlo’s life, but- because we hear more of her actual voice- this feels more personal, and poignant, to consider.
This might be one of the best documentaries about an artist for how personal it feels like we are getting into the artist’s world themselves. In a lot of documentaries about historical figures, it’s hard not to feel like we are being told how to view them rather than feeling like we are getting to know them up close and personal. The voices we hear are people who knew Frida at key points in her life, whether they involved her physical struggles- caused by a horrible accident when she was younger- her complicated love life, and her work. One of the most profound moments in the film is near the end, when we hear the words of a nurse who was working with Frida during a point where she had to get her leg amputated; her dejection, followed by the desire to create, gets to the complex heart of being an artist, driven to reveal yourself in your work. Even though her life ended not long after that, the legacy of her profound life, and thoughtful life’s work, lives on, and Gutierrez’s film would make a good lead-in to discovering it for those whom are curious.
