Review of Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) by Carlos R — 03 Jan 2011

The most beautiful and best acted film I've seen in a long, long time. William Hurt is here in a state of grace, and sublime in every single scene, moment, line or gesture he made; Raul Julia is not far behind, he also gave a superb performance as the other main character.

This film is so poetic, so lyrical, so magical; cinematic jewels like this don't occur very often, and I'm completely grateful of having watched this marvelous masterpiece. Among the best I've seen from the 80's, and generally one of the best dramatic films I've ever seen.

It's a film so pure, so well done, so tragic. It shows two lonely characters trapped in a prison cell sharing experiences, stories, and ways of seeing life; amazing dialogues, direction and perfect story-telling.

I particularly don't know anything about real life in prisons, but in this movie, everything felt so real, and so powerful, and in the matter of showing that aspect I think it's the best and more realistic I've seen, at least on a human level.

The plot itself was very well developed, but in the end it was in some way left in the background and didn't have many importance, it's a film more about the characters and their nature than about actions or events.

However, after all, perhaps the most memorable thing in this film is William Hurt, an unforgettable performance, one of the all-time best.