Kiss of the Spider Woman

"“Spun around politics, sexual identity and cinema, Kiss of the Spider Woman, nominated for four Os and the winner of one in 1986, is the consummate art film." - THE NEW YORK TIMES popmatters.com/pm/post/kiss-of-the-spider-woman-1985 "If Mr. Hurt has never been so daringly extroverted on the screen before, Mr. Julia has never been so restrained. And they meet halfway in a manner that is electrifying. Their teamwork, choreographed with a relentless, escalating rhythm by Mr. Babenco, never falters.... A BRILLIANT ACHIEVEMENT. SPIDER WOMAN unfolds slowly at first, building gradually and carefully until its momentum becomes urgent and palpable. From its droll, playful opening to its transcendent coda, it has THE MARK OF GREATNESS FROM BEGINNING TO END.” Janet Maslin, THE NEW YORK TIMES “William Hurt’s magnificent performance elevates the art of make-believe to greatness.” Rex Reed, THE NEW YORK POST "William Hurt...creates a character utterly unlike anyone else he has ever played--a frankly theatrical character, exaggerated and mannered--yet he never seems to be reaching for effects. Raul Julia, sweaty and physical in the early scenes, gradually reveals a poetry that makes the whole movie work. And Sonia Braga makes a perfect Spider Woman." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, August 9, 1985 "FANTASY AND REALITY BLEND IN A TENDER 'KISS' WITH CLASS... "Kiss of the Spider Woman' has class written all over it, beginning with its elegant three-dimensional titles and running on to include its rich characterizations, its wildly contrasting scenes of fantasy and reality, and its tender story." -Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune, August 9, 1985 NEW YORK TIMES • Friday July 26 1985 MOVIE REVIEW SCREEN: BABENCO'S 'KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN' By JANET MASLIN ''KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN'' begins with a theatrical-sounding sexual describing the plot of an old movie (''her petite ankle slips into the perfumed water'') for the benefit of his prison cellmate, a political radical. There is nothing in this seemingly frivolous, beautifully staged opening to betray the film's tremendous reserves of seriousness and passion. Nor are there sufficient clues in the previous film careers of the director, Hector Babenco (the highly praised ''Pixote''), or the two stars, William Hurt and Raul Julia, to anticipate the stature of the work they do here. ''Kiss of the Spider Woman'' is a brilliant achievement for all of them, staged with the perfect control and fierce originality that make it one of the best films in a long while. Mr. Hurt won a well-deserved best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for a performance that is crafty at first, carefully nurtured, and finally stirring in profound, unanticipated ways. What starts out as a campy, facetious catalogue of Hollywood trivia becomes an extraordinarily moving film about manhood, heroism and love. As Luis Molina, the storyteller who keeps his cellmate Valentin Arregui entertained with pulp movie fiction, Mr. Hurt is first seen wrapping a red towel around his head as a turban, the better to impersonate the female star of the film he is describing. The red f he ties around his neck in the climactic sequence is both a reminder of his earlier character and a sign of the completeness of his transformation. "The performances of Hurt and Julia win votes by the minute, Babenco directs their growing relationship with subtlety and depth.... A film of fine balance and tone, not least in the dramatic turnaround ending." - JG, Time Out Film Guide (2000) "Some distance has only improved 1985's Kiss of the Spider Woman. At the time, the film created something of a sensation, pro and con, mostly for its politics, perceived as shallow onscreen and off. It can be seen clearly now for what it is, a melodrama and a good one. Think of it as a gay Casablanca [1942]." - Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle, July 27, 2001 tcm.com/tcmdb/title/80427/Kiss-of-the-Spide

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