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Music

Unveiling Frida Kahlo's Inner Voice through Music

2024-11-27

There are no actual recordings of Frida Kahlo's voice. However, in director Carla Gutiérrez's documentary "Frida," the iconic painter tells her own story through the words spoken by actress Fernanda Echevarría from various sources like interviews, essays, and diaries. This semi-animated visual masterpiece, available on Amazon Prime, offers a sensory aural experience driven by the passionate and rhapsodic score composed by Victor Hernández Stumpfhauser.

Discovering Frida Kahlo's Hidden Musical Tale

Music as Frida's Inner Voice

For the documentary, Hernández Stumpfhauser saw the music as Frida's inner voice, similar to her spirit. He aimed to show both her strong, loud, and rebellious side while also relating to the vulnerable and intimate part of her personality. This aspect of Frida is not often seen in pop culture, but he believed the music could help the audience connect with her on a more personal level. He incorporated plucked guitar strings, violin samples, trumpet, and synthesizer, compressing sounds electronically to give the tracks a contemporary pop and folk vibe.The most affecting instrument in the soundtrack is the human voice. The score features vocalization of just a few notes, threaded beautifully through the film like a hero anthem. Alexa Ramirez, a professional singer and cellist and the composer's wife, chanted and hummed during the recording sessions. Her wordless coo was essential to the film's ecstatic finale. Carla was clear that Frida's funeral would not be in the movie and the end should not be sad. So, Hernández Stumpfhauser composed the score for the ending sequence to be even more triumphant, signifying that Frida is free and her art has transcended time.

Musical Influences and Childhood Memories

The 44-year-old composer's musical influences range from classical Bach pieces to Gustavo Santaolalla, an Oscar winner for "Babel" and "Brokeback Mountain," whose guitar-centric score for "Amores Perros" was a touchstone during his studies at universities in Mexico City and Chicago. His inspirations also hark back to his childhood. With initials VHS, he is a nostalgic '80s kid who loved "E.T." and "Back to the Future." Danny Elfman's score for "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" was really important as well. That great, weird circus music inspired him and made him think about the amazing possibilities of music.

Syncing Music with Visuals

Visually, "Frida" is made entirely from black-and-white archival film or color artwork, with subtle animation used to bring Kahlo's paintings to life. Hernández Stumpfhauser fashioned his music in sync with the aesthetics. He would get to see some of the animated segments before they were finished and modify his music according to the color splashes in the scenes. This creative process was rewarding, like a pyramid where they met at the top. He was also guided by advice from his director and a note that emphasized Frida's eclectic nature. Carla didn't want anything too pristine in the film; she wanted it to be loud, vibrant, raw, colorful, and messy. So, he was given the freedom to allow a few scratches and imperfections in the music, making the film more relatable to Frida's persona.This story first appeared in the Race Begins issue of TheWrap's awards magazine. Read more from the issue here.Photo by Joe Pugliese for TheWrap