Film: Frida
Genre: Fact-based Drama
Year: 2002
Frida is one of those films that leaves one with a very sharp lasting impression as it bombards one with powerful imagery, emotional acting, and fast-moving scenarios for its entire length. Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the life of artist Frida is rearranged and re-enacted before our eyes from her years as a young lady, through the terrible experience of the tragic accident that left her forever crippled and in pain, and on toward her premature death at the age of 47. All based on fact, Frida attempts to bring history to life in a style which emulates the chaos of Frida's life, her success as an artist being a bittersweet victory in comparison to the turbulence of her marriage, her affairs, and her personal suffering.
Geoffrey has a small part in the vast tapestry of this film, contributing to one of the many set-pieces of Frida's life, and is aged-up to play Leon Trotsky, the exiled Russian communist, who continued to work against the Stalin regime in Russia up until his assassination. When he comes to stay in Mexico, Diego, Frida's communist husband (from whom she has at this point spearated) implores her to help keep Trotsky, a communist hero, safe -- which she does. She in turn becomes enamoured by Trotsky's powers of speech, by his caring and compassionate nature, and by his firm and enduring belief in what he is doing, despite the losses it has incurred. As the two grow an understanding for one another, it is only a metter of time before their feelings get the better of themselves and they have a short but passionate affair.
The most impressive feature of Geoffrey's performance in this role comes, in my opinion, from his unerring ability to act with his eyes. He can express so much by the mere way he looks at another character, and there is no doubt that one can see the admiration blooming in Trotsky's gaze as he beholds Frida in many of the scenes. His time on-screen is lamentably short, and we barely get time to know Trotsky before he is cast aside and another section of the film begins, but he still manages to leave his mark in what little time he has, standing up as a contrast to the character of Diego, who, unlike Trotsky, is as selfish and fails to be very caring of those around him, particularly of Frida herself.
Screen Caps:
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