In an unnamed Latin American country, two men, one a gay window dresser (William Hurt), the other a radical journalist (Raul Julia), share a bleak prison cell, and become unlikely friends.

CRITIQUE

Originally released in 1985, Kiss of the Spider Woman is an offbeat but serious film, based on the novel by Manuel Puig; it tells the somewhat downbeat tale of two men sharing a prison cell in an oppressive country.  The result takes a while to get going, but ultimately this is an effective, moving character tale that despite a few flaws is worth checking out.

The nominal main character here is Luis Molina, a flamboyantly-gay man who dresses somewhat like a woman, even in prison; the film kicks off with his telling his new cellmate Valentin the story of a movie he once saw, involving a romance between a Nazi soldier and a French woman, a tale that Molina keeps telling more of as the movie goes on.  The problem with this is that the movie-in-the-movie (which we see chunks of) is really pretty awful, and though that is the point – and it does provide an opportunity to get out of the prison cell for stretches – these scenes are often eye-rolling, and often stop the movie dead.

So Kiss of the Spider Woman takes a while to really get rolling dramatically, and what really makes it work is the two actors and how they play off each other, with their relationship getting a lot more interesting as the movie goes on.  William Hurt does a great job as Molina (and he won the Oscar for the role); he gives Molina some real humanity without ever quite crossing the line into a gay stereotype.  Raul Julia also does a solid job as well; though he doesn’t have nearly enough to work with, the characters play off each other well.

The movie takes some interesting turns along the way (which I won’t spoil here), while the last 20 minutes go in some unexpected directions as well.  Ultimately there are stretches here that drag, and some sequences work a lot better than others, while gay subject matter that was shocking and fresh in 1985 is a bit less so now.  But the result hangs together well, and it is worth checking out.

THE VIDEO

Kiss of the Spider Woman is presented in widescreen.  The picture quality is generally good throughout.

THE AUDIO

Kiss of the Spider Woman is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are dubbed tracks into Spanish or French, as well as Spanish and French subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

The big extra here is the documentary Tangled Web, a 108-minute film about the making of Kiss of the Spider Woman that is everything you’d ever want a making-of to be.  It’s a fascinating look at the journey to bring this film (which originally was to star Burt Lancaster in Hurt’s) role to the screen, in an era when independent movies like this were not the standard.  It also takes a refreshingly honest look at all the problems in the making of the film.  It’s well worth watching, and elevates the set tremendously.

Manuel Puig: The Submissive Woman’s Role is a 9-minute featurette about Puig, the author of the novel, and the echoes of his life and his native Argentina in the tale.

Spider Woman on Broadway is an interesting 12-minute featurette about the challenges of turning the movie into a musical.

There is a 36-minute Slide Show with commentary about the transition from novel to film, as well as Photo Galleries with over 150 images both from the film and behind the scenes.

There is a Trivia Track in either English or Spanish.  It’s basically just subtitles at the bottom of the page talking about the movie, the novel it was adapted from, the musical it was adapted into, and other facts, but unlike a Commentary it’s unobtrusive and doesn’t affect the sound, so one can even activate it on a first viewing.

There is a copy of the original theatrical Trailer.

FINAL THOUGHT

The movie is interesting, and the main documentary is fascinating.