Kiss of the Spider Woman () is a 1985 drama film, based on the 1976 novel of the same title by Argentine writer Manuel Puig. It is directed by Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Héctor Babenco from a screenplay by Leonard Schrader, and stars William Hurt, Raul Julia, and Sônia Braga.
Set in Brazilian prison during the military dictatorship, the film centres on a dialogue between two very different cellmates, a hardened leftist revolutionary (Julia) and an apolitical, effeminate homosexual (Hurt). The story utilizes metafictional and film-within-a-film elements, as the latter regales the former with retellings of an old movie, whose themes mirror those of the characters.
Independently produced by David Weisman and filmed in São Paulo between October 1983 and March 1984, the film premiered at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival, where Hurt won the Best Actor award and Babenco was nominated for the Palme d'Or. Released in the United States on July 26, 1985, it received widespread critical acclaim; Hurt won the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor, and the film received a further three Oscar nominations: for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Plot
The film centres on a dialogue between two very different individuals who share a prison cell in Brazil during the Brazilian military dictatorship: Valentin Arregui, who is imprisoned (and has been tortured) due to his activities on behalf of a leftist revolutionary group, and Luis Molina, an effeminate homosexual in prison for "corrupting an underage youth."
Molina passes the time by recounting memories from one of his favorite films, a wartime romantic thriller that is also a Nazi propaganda film. He weaves the characters into a narrative meant to comfort Valentin and distract him from the harsh realities of political imprisonment and separation from his lover, Marta. Valentin encourages Molina to have self-respect and opens him up to political commitment. Despite Valentin's occasionally snapping at Molina over his shallow views of film-watching and unrealistic romance, an unlikely friendship develops between the two.
As the story develops, it becomes clear that Valentin is being poisoned by his jailers to provide Molina with a chance to befriend him, and that Molina is spying on Valentin on behalf of the secret police. Molina has apparently been promised parole if he succeeds in obtaining information that will allow the secret police to break up the revolutionary group.
When Molina declares himself in love with Valentin, a physical consummation of that love occurs on Molina's last night in prison. Molina is granted parole in a surprise move by the secret police. Valentin provides Molina with a telephone number and a message for his comrades. Molina at first refuses to take the number, fearing the consequences of treason, but he relents, bidding Valentin farewell with a kiss.
Now out of prison, Molina calls the telephone number, and a meeting is arranged with the revolutionary group. But the secret police have had Molina under surveillance, and at the rendezvous, a gun battle occurs, with the revolutionaries shooting Molina. As he wanders the streets wounded, the secret police catch him and demand the telephone number, but Molina refuses and dies. On the orders of the police chief, the policemen dump Molina's body in a rubbish pit and fabricate a story about his death and his presumed collaboration with the revolutionary group.
In the prison, Valentin is being treated after being tortured. After a sympathetic doctor risks his job by administering morphine to help him sleep, Valentin appears to succumb to his wounds and perhaps die, when he suddenly finds himself running out of prison with Marta and appearing on an idyllic tropical island with her. Valentin and Marta sail away on a boat into the distance.
Cast
Background
The film is based on the 1976 novel El beso de la mujer araña (Kiss of the Spider Woman) by Manuel Puig. The Argentine author was the first to adapt his own novel as a stage play. A Broadway musical of the same name, also based on the novel, was produced in 1993.