An Uninvited Guest

One of the canine companions brought this arachnid to our attention either Friday or Saturday night. You would have thought the dog had been trained for such events, for it stood at the door and stared at the floor. I was closest to the door, and commented that there was a large black spider at the doorway.

I don’t believe I’ve seen a tarantula in real life before. This particular tarantula was just inside Linda’s greenhouse annex, which is on the other side of the kitchen/dining room area. Brother Dave calmly got a bit of cardboard, coached the tarantula on to it, and relocated the uninvited guest to a different area of the greenhouse. Then he closed the door.

According to Wikipedia, the tarantula has an undeserved fearsome reputation. It is not nearly as deadly as its appearance, or horror movies, would have us believe.

If the tarantula did visit us Friday night, it was shortly before we watched Frida, starring Salma Hayek, and directed by Julie Taymor. For some reason, it would seem appropriate for the two events to be coincidentally on the same evening.

Frida is a biopic of Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist. The movie is Ms. Taymor’s second effort for the big screen (IMDB lists three TV credits); she is best known for her work on Broadway (e.g., The Lion King). So, I watched the movie closely to see if it was "stagey."

Happily, it is not. The film is full of bright colors; it has a rich palette which reflects both Ms. Kahlo’s art, and the art of her lover/sometime husband Diego Rivera. Many of Ms. Kahlo’s canvases are brought to life, either literally or through implicit exposition. The camera moves briskly through each mis en scene.

The film primarily owes its existence to Ms. Hayek, who has producer credit. She pushed hard for a script and direction which would honor an artist who has previously received only limited recognition. I definitely felt like I was watching Frida, rather than an actress portraying her.

My only negative comment on the movie is that it seemed to rush through Frida's final years. Granted, all film biographies will be compressed – or will focus on one central event in a person's life (witness Capote). But, ideally, the viewer should not feel rushed in any part of the picture.

The appearance of the tarantula, if it did appear on this evening, is appropriate because Ms. Kahlo had a dark life which was reflected through sometimes brutal art. Early on, she is involved in a severe bus accident which breaks most of her bones and leaves her in severe pain for the rest of her life. It is suggested that she became (understandably) addicted to pain medication in her last years.

Like the tarantula, it would be easy to mistake the brutality of Frida Kahlo’s art — as merely revolutionary (she was a communist) or merely autobiographical. But I think the movie directs us more toward the notion that her art reflected much more; that it reflected the fullness of a passionate woman.

I have put the movie in my Netflix que, to watch once again. Recommended.