A REVIEW OF "KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN" A RETRO REVIEW, 1985 by Ryan Ellis
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William Hurt, monotone-voiced star of "The Big Chill", "The Accidental Tourist", "Children Of A Lesser God", and "Broadcast News" in the '80s, also played the lead in this picture and won his only Best Actor Oscar. Starring opposite the now-deceased Raul Julia, Hurt was required to spend the majority of the shoot in a small "cell" with his co-star, talking and talking. This is a story that would have died a slow death if not for its extensive character development. Fortunately, Hurt's emotional character is so well-acted that the film has a hypnotic effect in spite of its restrictive environment.
After the opening credits, the cinematographer gets a chance to provide the viewer with some eye candy as he completely pans around the South American prison cell where the characters wile away their time. Molina is a homosexual thrown in prison for corrupting a minor. His cellmate, Valentin (Julia), has been imprisoned for his political activism. Their predicament is not fun, but Molina (Hurt) tries to make the best of it by talking endlessly about crappy old movies.
Little happens. This film is a fine example of a character study. We learn about their lives and sins after the interesting opening shot. Molina hams it up, fondly remembering those bad movies, dressing and acting the part of a cliched gay man. However, he's a sympathetic character from the start and, while he doesn't pull punches about his homosexuality, he is never obnoxious about it. Incidentally, Hurt was the first actor to ever win an Oscar for playing a gay man (Tom Hanks in "Philadelphia" was the only other).
For the first ten minutes, the two men are introduced to us through their conversation. Valentin, simply unwilling to listen to what his cellmate is talking about, is filled with anger and fear. Their opposite personalities clash until Molina later shows true compassion for his "partner". A tender scene unfolds when Valentin is poisoned and becomes badly sick, losing control of his bowels while still dressed. Director Victor Babenco shows good taste and restraint here when the flamboyant Molina undresses him to clean and comfort him. Molina gains both Valentin's trust and ours when he helps the sick man, but doesn't try to take advantage of him.
Later, we learn that Molina is working with the warden to get Valentin to talk about his political contacts. Gaining Valentin's trust and friendship by sharing food brought by his mother and taking good care of him while he was sick, Molina begins to regret his betrayal. He also knew about the attempted poisoning. Still, he goes through with his treasonous acts in order to get early parole.
Two difficult scenes called for the men to engage in acts of passion. At a late juncture in the film, Molina encourages Valentin to "do what you want with me". We know what happens off-camera, of course. Handled with tact, this scene was pivotal to the plot, but it stayed away from exploitation and offensiveness. The other scene required a kiss between the two stars. Also done with tenderness and class, this is the last contact the two friends have in the film. Molina contacts Valentin's girlfriend when he is released as the warden's henchman follow in hot pursuit. He is tragically shot to death by the suspicious girlfriend. The final scene features Valentin, beaten and tortured in prison, dreaming about being reunited with his girlfriend.
So, where does the Spider Woman fit in? Well, Sonia Braga plays three roles: Valetin's girlfriend, the star of Molina's "movies", and as the Spider Woman. Molina tells a story about a shipwrecked man comforted and loved by the fictious Spider Woman. This imagery is strong and well-filmed. Molina dies while in love with his former cellmate, Valentin is in love with his girlfriend, and the girlfriend--who is still in love but has given up on her man.
A sensitive movie, Hurt toes the line of over-the-top flamboyance, yet forces the viewer to forget that he is only acting. This was Hurt's finest performance (ditto for Julia) and Hurt was recognized for it when he won the Academy Award. What really touched me about this film was the similarity between it and a script I once wrote while in college. My script was also about two jailed men with mysterious backgrounds and the primary focus was on good dialogue. Babenco's product was award-worty and, while mine wasn't, I related to what he was trying to do.
This is one of more underrated prison films ever made. In a muted manner, it's comparable to one of my favourites, "The Shawshank Redemption". Not much happens for most of the two hours, but it's absolutely mesmerizing at times. Calling it slow would be unfair, but it IS true that "Kiss Of The Spider Woman" probably won't be appreciated by the average '90s movie fan. It is simple and intelligent and should be viewed with an open mind, so that the characters played by Hurt and Julia can be allowed to haunt the viewer as much as they haunt themselves and each other.
USELESS TRIVIA--William Hurt must be fun to work with. He's played opposite two Oscar-winning actresses, Marlee Matlin ("Children Of A Lesser God") and Geena Davis ("The Accidental Tourist"). Holly Hunter, his co-star in "Broadcast News", went on to win the Best Actress prize for "The Piano" in 1993.
This film gets an 8/10.
THE RYAN RATING SYSTEM SAYS... 10/10--absolutely outstanding 9/10--excellent 8/10--pretty darn good 7/10--sure, go on and give it a peek 6/10--so-so; ye ol' recommendation point 5/10--not quite worth the dollars 4/10--only if you have a free pass 3/10--don't go, PLEASE don't go 2/10--avoid even if you DO have a free pass 1/10--"Showgirls" territory; truly crappy 0/10--bang your head off a wall instead Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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