Friedrich Nietzsche considered himself a "posthumous" author, to such an extent that he felt out of his time. Nor did the art of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) tune with hers. Scarcely recognized in life, she is revered today, however, to the point that her brand is exploited by a company, the Frida Kahlo Corporation. We know so much about Kahlo, thanks to biographies, films, plays, that a new documentary about her might seem redundant. And yet, the documentary series offered by the BBC (available for free on RTVE Play and also offered by Movistar Plus +) directed by Louise Lockwood, and divided into three episodes of about an hour each, deserves to be seen.
Built with interesting archival material that alternates with a succession of fascinating paintings by the artist, Frida relies on testimonies from biographers, art historians, and even relatives. An infinity of voices that abound in the canonical image of Kahlo: that of a rebellious woman who was strengthened in misfortune and an artist who never submitted to conventions. Suffering from polio at the age of six, before turning 20 a very serious accident left terrible sequelae on her body. He had to give up his medical studies, but he found in painting an escape route to isolation and isolation. Art would end up being that superpower, this production tells us, thanks to which it developed its extraordinary personality until it became, with its traditional clothes and its fascinating flower headdresses, a brand image.
The series provides some novel information about the end of the artist who married in 1929, at age 22, with the already exalted muralist Diego Rivera, 42, and divorced 10 years later, after enduring countless infidelities, including Rivera's marital cohabitation with Frida's own sister and confidant, Cristina. Her biographer, Hayden Herrera, believes that Kahlo overcame that lacerating situation by maintaining numerous love relationships, although love—or dependence—for Diego Rivera led her to remarry him in 1940. The documentary presents Frida as "a product of the Mexican revolution" of 1910, to the point that she gave that date as that of her birth, which actually occurred three years earlier. But the mythologized revolution meant little progress for Mexican women. We see Frida in the third episode (A Star is Born) as an adult woman undermined by the physical pain and troubles of her relationship with Rivera. An artist determined to make a living from her painting and, at the same time, in need of the permanent support of her husband who paved the way for her to exhibit in New York and Paris.
Frida, whose famous Blue House, in Coyoacán, is home to the museum dedicated to her, remains an enigmatic figure from the first to the last frame. A singular creature who, unfortunately, in the Spanish version of the documentary is assigned an affected voice with an insufferable tone.
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