Kiss of the Spider Woman-1985

Director Hector Babenco

Starring William Hurt, Raul Julia

Scott’s Review #187

Reviewed October 24, 2014

Grade: B+

1985 was not the best year for film, nor was much of the 1980s, as I think about it, but there are unique standouts, and Kiss of the Spider Woman is an unusual and artistic film.

Set in present-day South America (Brazil), two men are imprisoned for very different reasons and are cellmates in the prison where they are captives.

Complete opposites, they form an unlikely bond centered on friendship but also skirting toward romance, flirtation, and, at times, love.

Luis Molina is outwardly homosexual and extremely flamboyant and perhaps out of touch with reality as he fantasizes and describes romantic Nazi films.

He is imprisoned not only for being homosexual but also for having sex with an underage male.

The other man, Valentin Arregui, is a liberal political activist who has been beaten, tortured, and interrogated due to his revolutionary-leaning politics. He has a rough, macho edge.

On the surface, the two men have nothing in common, but due to their proximity, they forge a close bond and mutual respect as their pre-imprisonment lives are explained to each other and to the audience.

The true strength of this film is the performance, very against type, of William Hurt- the best performance of his career by a mile. He completely embodies Luis’s character in his effeminacy, yearning, pain, and obsession with escaping reality through film.

Raul Julia has the same effect, though in a completely different way, in his portrayal of Valentin.

Luis tenderly comforts Valentin, who is being poisoned by prison officials, by incorporating his stories of films into Valentin’s real life, as he yearns for his separated lover, Marta.

As Luis begins falling in love with Valentin, and one seems to be double-crossed by the other, this leads to a test of courage and dedication to each other.

The ending of the film is a sad one, dark, yet thought-provoking, and shows love, tenderness, and bravery.

My only negative about Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) is that, at times, with the flashback structure or through Luis’s narration, it is tough to follow and figure out exactly what is going on in the story. Still, the performances of Hurt and Julia, and the chemistry between them, are the film’s major strengths.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture, Best Director-Hector Babenco, Best Actor-William Hurt (won), Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best International Film (won)