Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

This is in the top drawer of movies ever made to date. It is flawless, a work of art in which the whole canvas is filled with colour and richness, and the true meaning of the movie gradually unfolds through a harrowing course to a powerful, moving finale. Acting and direction are all superb, and in my opinion the placing of "the spider woman" as the central icon of the movie is sheer genius, made complete by the casting of Sonia Braga, a unique beauty. The final scene with the death of William Hurt's character, the unfolding of the last petal, reaches out and grabs our heart, not unlike the final words of "Chinatown" when Nicholson's sidekick takes him aside with "Forget it Boss, its Chinatown".

I would have never thought that Hector Babenco's directorial followup to the gritty Pixote would have earned him Best Picture, Screenplay and Director nominations at the Oscars. It's not that he made something accessible, he made something great, perhaps the best Oscar film of 1985. Kiss of the Spider Woman operates on so many compelling and complex dualities and contradictions. The most unlikely pair locked in prison and each with their own different visions of escape make for ripe and explorative drama. William Hurt and Raul Julia, the former of whom deservedly won the Oscar for a real lived-in and nuanced but powerful performance, have electric chemistry and the film is wholly indebted to their commitment to their characters to make it work. It's delicate scenes such as when Hurt cleans up Julia's diarrhea that build their growing bond so organically. Never phased by the limited space, the photography glides across the cell, constantly making the film cinematic. The third act feels like something out of a political thriller from the 70s. It does tend to get lost in itself a bit, and perhaps suffers most when the plot thickens, including the plot of the fictional movie-within-the-movie, and when the relationships are taken one step further. Some of the dualities seem placed in without being as well developed as the key ideas and knowing too little about Brazilian politics which is what Julia stood for also hurts. There's a lot of universality about it though which resonated and was often poignant. A rewatch could reconcile those nitpicks but otherwise I'm pleasantly surprised.8/10

A homosexual and a political prisoner bond in a South American prisoner. Hurt is flamboyant as the homosexual, a role that won him an Oscar. While it is an interesting performance, it also comes across as somewhat showy and insincere. Julia is equally good as his cell mate, a gruff fellow who develops a fondness for Hurt. Unfortunately, the talents of the two stars are wasted in a dreary drama that seems to have no narrative flow. Hurt narrates to Julia the plot of a B-movie, and too much time is devoted to boring, melodramatic scenes of this fictitious film within film. Braga is given three roles, but none of them is the least bit interesting.

I can understand the deeper issues that this movie was exploring, but frankly it moved slow, I personally found the script boring, and just plain crap. So many cliché moments, and it seemed very stereotypical to me. I remember seeing this movie in the theaters, and the two other people in the theater (who arrived with me) out of the three of us there I was the only one who could stay awake for it. As my worst movie going experience of my life I am surprised when I stumbled upon this review to find 7.4 stars out of 10, and felt that I had to provide a balanced input into this movie. I enjoyed attack of the killer tomatoes more than I did this movie, or something more recent say Borat, that was a better movie. Hell even white hunter black heart was a much better movie than this. If you know what is good for you, only watch this movie if your idea of entertainment is to explore a very narrow, stereotypical view of what will happen to two men in prison if one is already gay to begin with.