SnoopyStyle Luis Molina (William Hurt) and Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia) are cell mates in a Latin American prison. Homosexual Luis is in prison for corrupting minors. Valentin is a political prisoner. Luis is obsessed with a Nazi movie about occupied France for the dashing Nazi lead Werner.The prison setting is Spartan. This seems more like a two-men play. Hurt and Julia are brilliant. I would have liked a tighter shorter movie almost entirely in the prison cell. The lack of cinematic style can be excused inside the cell. It doesn't look quite as good outside. I don't particularly like the film within the film. The two leads provide compelling insightful performances. The two of them in the cell provide the best scenes in the movie.

thinker1691 In reading the novel " Kiss of the Spider Woman " written by Manuel Puig I realized very little was omitted from the movie of the same name. Director Hector Babenco has done a remarkable job in transferring the written word to the screen. The story is about two prisoners sharing a secluded cell in some obscure, brutal Brazilian prison. The first individual is Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia) a political prisoner, incarcerated because he belongs to an anti-government group bent on overthrowing the oppressive political regime. The second man is Luis Molina (William Hurt) a homosexual window dresser convicted on a morals charge for having sex with a teenage boy. Together they pass the time saying as little as possible. Luis recounts movies he has seen and relates them to Valentin who criticizes his interpretations. What Val does not know is that Luis is being pressured to reveal details of Val's organization. Further, Luis's decides to string the warden (Jose Lewgoy) along with requests for special gifts from his mother. The film is a great visual masterpiece and some of the finest acting ever presented. The drama is high lighted by Hurt's oral descriptions of the characters which come to light as he relates his recollections. The change of background colors is instrumental for the visual addition to the movie characters and when the audience meets the Spider Woman, (Sonia Braga) we realize a Classic is being enacted. Indeed, this movie is a great tribute to the cast and is sure to become a milestone for fans of Hurt and Julia. Highly recommended to anyone interested in seeing an exceptional film. ****

jayd65 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.

classicalsteve "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is not your typical film. Similar to the novel of the same name which was banned in Buenos Aires for many years, "Spider Woman" is a non-linear story which begins as a character study of two polar opposites who are reluctant prison-mates in a Brazilian prison. William Hurt offers a stellar performance for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor as Molina, a troubled homosexual who also exhibits transsexual tendencies. His prison-mate is Valentin, a journalist who entered into an underground political movement and was incarcerated as a political prison. By contrast, Molina's crime was engaging in a sexual relationship with a boy.The film begins with Hurt's voice-over as Molina while the camera pans above the hideous accommodations of the prison cell. The voice describes a character and a scene from an old romantic European movie probably made in the 1930's. For emphasis, Molina donning a decorated sheet drapes a towel over his head, re-enacting the scene of the heroine putting on her towel after a bath like a turban. The film then cuts to the actual film being described showing a dark-haired actress who appears like a cross between Gloria Swanson and Marlene Dietrich. We are now in the middle of a bygone era of glamorous film. The film in the present-moment is in color while the movie being described is in black and white, often using soft focuses and soft lighting for romantic effect. On several occasions, the present-moment story is halted and the older film is shown on-screen. One of the interesting contrasts is how the older movie exhibits plush settings, beautiful costumes, and attractive leads. The real setting of the prison is damp, dirty and just about as unromantic as a slimy villain.During different moments, Valentin snaps at Molina, occasionally puzzled and sometimes infuriated with Molina's simplistic view of reality which seems caught up in these old movies. At one point during one of Molina's movie descriptions, Valentin realizes the movie is some kind of Nazi propaganda film. There are resisters to the Nazi regime who are portrayed as less-than-human conniving degenerates. However, Molina is oblivious to this aspect, simply caught up with the heroine and her lover, Werner, a member of the Nazi high command. Molina cares nothing about the film's rhetoric but only the romantic interests and identifies strongly with the female lead. Several times he admonishes Valentin for "ruining the moment" with his political talk. One of the elements which makes the story interesting is the parallel between Valentin's predicament as a political prisoner and the film described by Molina which has fascist overtones.Much of the film is about the relationship between the prison-mates as much as a character study. Occasionally their relationship is strained and escalates into near-violent confrontation as Valentin finds superficiality with his prison-mate who is constantly moving and gesturing like the opposite sex. At one point, Valentin rages at him "You sound just like a...!" to which Molina responds "Say it, just like a woman." But over time, a strange friendship of mutual trust and respect evolves between the two men, and Valentin finds there is more to Molina than at first meets the eye.A very different and interesting film with absolute first-rate performances by the two leads but not for all tastes and certainly not for those uninterested in material which explores homosexuality. Part of the film's rhetoric is about showing aspects of homosexual sensibility. Valentin begins to learn and at one point appreciate his prison-mate's sexual dilemma. Part of Molina's ultimate quandary is that he is more than a homosexual: he feels much like a member of the female sex and longs for a "real man", not just a homosexual male. But "real men", by Molina's definition, want real women, and he can never satisfy this desire. So he escapes into romantic films and pretends he is the star.