novembflfU 2002 t
FILM
Sex! Art! Drama!
Love & hate
Skip the soaps and tune into
the life of Frida Kahlo instead
These femmes
are really fatale
by
G ary M orris
by
L isa B radshaw
F r id a
Fox Tower, opens Nov. 8
M u r d e r o u s M a id s
Clinton Street Theater, Not’. I to 10
iven artist Frida Kahlo’s (1907-
1954) iconic status, it’s surprising
that her story hasn’t been told in a
feature film before now. Or maybe
not, considering she was not only a gifted
painter but also an aggressively bisexual,
alcoholic, violent-tempered, crippled
communist who had an affair with Trotsky
and the Soviet flag draped over her coffin.
Not exactly Lifetime Channel material.
For Salma Hayek, Frida (aka the
Tango
Unihrow for that cuddly caterpillar
Salma
stretching artfully across her lower fore
head) was a lifelong fascination, so much so
that she battled the likes of Madonna and Jen
nifer Lopez to get the role. Boyfriend Edward
Norton helped with the script and plays Nelson
Rockefeller, dour patron of Kahlo’s husband,
Diego Rivera, who is portrayed by a predictable
Alfred Molina. Julie Taymor (Titus) directs.
The result is a colorful, lively dual biogra
phy— it’s as much about Diego as Frida— that
collapses into cliché too often to he ultimately
much more than glorified soap opera.
The film certainly moves briskly, sampling
the high and low points (probably more of the
latter) of Frida’s stormy life. First we see her as
a scandalous student, running with a pack of
intellectual hoys and terrorizing the teachers.
Then comes the famous bus crash that left her
in a body cast for a month and began her slide
into disability and chronic pain.
Still, she forges ahead, becoming a central
figure in Mexico City’s rich arts scene of the
1920s and ’30s. Along the way she cultivated a
seductive personal style (which included sur
rounding herself with peacocks and monkeys)
and forged a powerful painting style, in which
she appears as a kind of stoic lab specimen
occupying surreal landscapes.
Much of Frida tracks her on-again, off-again
relationship with Diego, whom she alternately
adores and denounces as a “fat womanizer,” the
latter habit extending even to Frida’s sister.
Their scenes are standard histrionics— Frida
screaming and hurling things, then Diego
screaming and hurling things. Scenes like the
cantina brawl resurrect every stereotype of
“thiise hot-blooded Latins.”
Still, Hayek seems made for the role, and
n 1932 Le Mans, France, two 20-
something sisters, Christine and Lea
Papin, who were working as maids,
were arrested for the grisly double
murder of their mother-and-daughter
employers, Madame and Geneviève
Lancelin. When it was discovered the
sisters were also lovers, France had one
of the most celebrated European crimes
of the century on its hands.
Quite titillating grist for the media
Two sisters in love in the unsettling Murderous M aids
mill, the story has continued to shock
renamed Danzard) and the Papin sisters. The
and enthrall through the decades, with two
intentions of both works are indeed clear—
stage versions (one by gay writer Jean Genet),
Kesselman and Meckler clearly see, or at least
at least two books, a documentary and, with
chixise to present, the murder heavily based in
the new Murderous Maids, a total of four fea
class distinction, while Murderous Maids direc
ture films.
tor Jean-Pierre Denis attributes the crime much
In the United States the most-seen previous
more to the mental instability of Christine
film version about “the monsters of Le Mans,”
Papin.
as they were called, was 1994’s Sister My Sister,
No doubt, the older Papin sister was
by British director Nancy Meckler. The screen
extremely troubled. She lost her father in the
play was penned by Wendy Kesselman, who
war and hated her mother passionately. She
adapted it from her own stage play.
worked to keep herself and her sister away
Comparisons are being made right and left
from home emotionally and financially. Falling
between these two films, with Sister My Sister
in love with her sister and becoming obsessive
slightly behind critically because of the film
about her while becoming increasingly
makers’ rather loose interpretation of inter
enraged by her snobbish, condescending
actions between the Lancelins (who they
employers drives her to the zenith of anxiety,
and she eventually snaps.
Sister My Sister is a dark, moody study of
the insular society in which Christine and
Lea exist and an examination of severe class
distinctions. By the time Christine attacks
her boss, you have nearly been convinced
Nov. 9 as part of Shorts of Endurance.
the boss has it coming. Joely Richardson
Sherman Alexie’s film The Business of Fan -
(daughter of Vanessa Redgrave) is riveting in
cydancing returns to the Guild after a run last
the lead role.
June. Native American writer Seymour
Murderous Maids takes on the more com
Polatkin is caught between his present Seattle
plex process of toning down the good vs. evil
gay intellectual writer lifestyle and his past on
model of the house, instead focusing on the
the rez. Note: Just Out previously gave this a
whole of Christine’s experiences and mental
fairly bad review.
state. This makes the murders ultimately more
A great sneak peek opportunity is the
shocking yet still frames her as a sympathetic
screening of Gus Van San ts new film Gerry
victim of sorts, particularly as the story contin
about two friends (Casey Affleck and Matt
ues into the young women’s jail cells. Sylvie
Damon) who get lost on a road trip. See it here
Testud is riveting in the lead role.
at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 or wait for the opening about
In the end, Sister My Sister is a finer piece of
three months from now.
—LBJP1 art. Murderous Maids is a finer piece of biography.
Both films are very, very good. JH
never looked this good: Ashley Judd (left) and
Hayek in Frida
her excessive embrace of the character has def
inite moments of pathos.
Queer viewers will appreciate a red-hot
tango, complete with lingering kiss, between
Frida and her new pal Tina Modotti, played
with sizzle by the gorgeous Ashley Judd. And
the kx>k of the film can’t he faulted. Shot in
vibrant color, it gives an immediate feel of
Mexico in the early 20th century.
Taymor enlisted the Brothers Quay to
devise a series of bizarre animated scenes,
including a wonderful Day of Death tableau
vnant to express Frida’s nightmare in the hospi
tal, which helps boost the sometimes sagging
energy of the surrounding melodrama. |H
Northwesterly
T
he Northwest Film Center presents the 29th
annual Northwest Film and Video Festival
from Nov. 8 to 16, which rounds up the lat
est best work of filmmakers from Oregon,
Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Let us help you out by telling you which
ones are queer. All screenings are at the Guild
Theatre, 1219 S.W. Park Ave.
The 33-minute “Donor” from Springfield
filmmakers Adele Wilson and Eve Whitaker
plays at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 as part of S/tons of Pas-
sion. You can guess what it’s about.
It’s a bitter trip to the supermarket for ex
lovers in Portlander Andrew Blubaugh’s four-
minute short “He Said,” which plays at 7 p.m.
i n
jm
:
t « i ! Í * *g ! M
ÉTf *1 Í S
? ? * * ss * **
« » .
3
^
Queer highlights from
the Northwest Film
and Video Festival
0
J f
' *
Su rrou n d y o u rse lf with sp ectacu lar view s a n d a fresh perspective on "dining o u t."
I
4
f
/ n v
// ft !*»
/
ll \\ !**
• V V
-**..-** r ~ "
y.
A b o ard each P ortlan d S p irit cruise, Executive C h e f D av id Fisher, pu ts a new
riwjf on N orthw est cuisine. It's the perfect dining experience, a ll the w ay around.
\
if f 11 ! 1 1 1 1 a : W
Book your holiday party on the Spiriti
1
C a
ll (
5 0 3 ) 2 2 4 -3 9 0 0
o r
( 8 0 0 ) 2 2 4 -3 9 0 1
•
b o o k
o n l in e
n o w
at w w w
. p
o r t l a n d s p i r i t . c o m
rj