Review of Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) by Jens T — 11 Dec 2012

Hector Babenco's Kiss of the Spider Woman tells the story that is set in a Latin-American dictatorship where the underground freedom fighter Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia) who's been thrown in jail. He shares a cell with the homo sexual Luis Molina (William Hurt) who loves to tell Valentin about a film he once saw, which actually was a German Nazi propaganda film. But that doesn't bother Luis, what he loves is the soap opera plot about forbidden love, between a German officer and a french freedom fighter. while Valentine is offended by his movie. By giving you the inciting incident I would also give away the story. All I can say here is that Luis' movie is a mirror of what is going to happen.

Kiss of the Spider Woman is a good prison film, with two extraordinary main characters, which dialogue is never boring. But the movie on the other hands seems to loose our attention in the middle of the film. I also liked the the two plot lines in general. So artistic and so creative. And the chemistry between the main characters, despite their differences their political differences and their sexuality, is just perfect. They are in this together. William Hurt truly deserved that Oscar, because he was able to create such a three-dimensional vivid character. Thumbs up.