REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES (2002)
Directed by: Patricia Cardoso
Written by: George LaVoo & Josefina Lopez, based on the play by Josefina Lopez
Starring: America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiverso, George Lopez, Ingrid Oliu, Brian Sites
Watson Scale: 5

Once in a while a little film comes along that hits you between the eyes, in the same way as CHARIOTS OF FIRE or THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY did in their day. This story of Ana (a bright, Rubenesque young Latina from a poor East L.A. family), who wins a scholarship to Beverly Hills High, then gets accepted by Columbia University -- fighting her way out of a “sweatshop” and her mother’s thrall to get there -- is beautifully told by new young director Patricia Cardoso, who is a talent to watch. Ironically this is the second “Latino” film I have seen in a week directed by a woman, as I also saw FRIDA at the British Academy directed by Julie Taymor.

Whereas Taymor had the services of brilliant costumes, photography and production design, which she puts to wonderful use, Cardoso had only bare bones and a limited budget to work with, which makes her accomplishment even more stunning. The “glue” of this film is the incredible performance by Lupe Ontiveros (who I once had the pleasure of working with when we both guest starred a few years ago on an episode of DAVE’s WORLD for C.B.S.) as Ana's mother. She plays a “monster,” and her work should definitely get nominated for a Best Supporting Actress nod at Oscar time. There is an old running joke about which mother lays more guilt on her children: the Catholic or the Jewish one! This mother uses every trick to bind her daughter to her, from putting her down, to pretending to be pregnant. Her final vicious ace in the hole -- when the Columbia scholarship is offered to Ana by her supportive high school teacher -- is to remind her daughter how much her ancient grandfather would miss her, who the mother knows Ana adores! Her one wish is for Ana to work in her sister’s sweatshop making $18 evening dresses (to be later sold at Bloomingdales for $600), get married, have babies and thence be a slave for life.

This film is based on a true story, and it’s terrifying to think how many young Latina girls get caught in a similar trap. Hopefully it will inspire many to higher things. America Ferrera, a little-known 18 year-old actress who has only done bit parts up till now, is a revelation as Ana, showing an incredibly mature range of emotions in a very difficult role. Cardoso also elicits impeccable performances from her supporting cast: George Lopez as the supportive teacher, Jorge Cervera Jr. as her weak-willed gardener father, Ingrid Oliu as her hard-working sister, and Brian Sites as the upper class white boy from her high school, with whom she has her first sexual encounter. Their fumbling courtship and eventual love scene are deftly and sensitively handled with a definite woman's touch. There is one uniquely pivotal and hysterical scene in the sweatshop, where all the women workers, including Ana, strip down to their underwear and unashamedly flaunt their ample curves while doing the salsa! The only one shocked by their behavior is, of course, the mother, one of whose controlling mechanism’s is to be proper at all times.

REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES is neither glossy or glamorous, no self pity is shown, and Ana's family are hard-working, own their own home, and are non-stereotypical. Congratulations to H.B.O. Films for having backed such a courageous piece of filmmaking.

FRIDA (2002)
Directed by: Julie Taymor
Starring: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Ashley Judd, Valeria Golino, Edward Norton, Antonio Banderas
Watson Scale: 4

I was very interested to see this film as, to be brutally frank, I did not believe, from her previous work, that Salma Hayek had sufficient acting talent to adequately portray the extremely complex character of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Well, the good news is this is by far the best and most layered work she has ever done -- a real “labor of love.” However, the bad news (from the point of view of a true “cineaste”) is that the film, under Julie Taymor's helming, is beautiful to look at, theatrical and showy (as befits a director with her stage background -- her only other film was TITUS), but never plumbs the depths of Frida’s pain and misery during her life. As a result, we are left, thanks to a mediocre script, still wondering what she was really like in addition to being the friend, lover and protégé of Diego Rivera. The photography, costumes and production design -- all by Mexican artists -- are breathtaking, and should garner nominations at Oscar time.

Alfred Molina, who is this generation’s Anthony Quinn, as usual immerses himself wonderfully in the role of Diego Rivera, the womanizing, charismatic artistic genius, who captures Frida’s heart and soul, even though he tells her with brutal frankness that no woman will ever own him, and who eventually even sinks to seducing her sister. Geoffrey Rush has a thankless role as Trotsky, looking so old and frail, that one wonders how he could summon the energy necessary to have an affair with a bi-sexual fireball such as Frida!

Excellent cameos are turned in by Ashley Judd, Antonio Banderas, Valeria Golino, and Hayek’s real life boyfriend, Edward Norton, who apparently rewrote a lot of the script uncredited.

Salma Hayek has an exquisite body, and one wishes that she had been made uglier and more agonized, and that we had been allowed to see deeper into Frida’s enigmatic psyche, without being so much in Diego Rivera’s shadow. One is left wondering what a young Ana Magnani, Fernanda Montenegro, or even Meryl Streep would have done with the role, and one craves clues of how Frida endured such emotional pain.

In short, this is a breathtakingly visual film, and Hayek does by far her best and most passionate work to date. The production designs where the actors pose as Frida Kahlo’s paintings and then come to life are fabulous, and the music is compelling. One yearns, however, for a bit more substance amidst the overabundance of style.