Kiss of the Spider Woman
Short description
In a Latin American prison, two cellmates could hardly be more different. Valentin is a journalist held for his political beliefs and has been tortured during interrogations. Molina is a window dresser jailed on a morals charge, and he fills the long nights by recounting romantic stories drawn from old films he remembers. Confined together, the two men gradually move from suspicion toward understanding, even as events outside their cell put that bond under strain.
Héctor Babenco directed the film, working from a screenplay by Leonard Schrader, with David Weisman producing. It was the first of three features in Babenco's filmography listed here, ahead of Ironweed and Carandiru. William Hurt plays Molina and Raúl Juliá plays Valentin, with Sônia Braga appearing in multiple roles and José Lewgoy, Milton Gonçalves and Miriam Pires among the credited cast of thirty-six. The production was a Brazilian and American co-release.
Made for about 1 million dollars, the film took roughly 17 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.3 out of 10 from around 19,000 votes, while TMDB users give it 7 out of 10 from a much smaller base of 353. A critics' rating of 7.5 out of 10 from 39 reviews places it slightly above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The first independent film nominated for an “Oscar” in the “Best Picture” category.
- During filming, Sonia Braga did not speak English, so she memorized her lines without understanding their meaning.
- William Hurt's “Oscar” for “Best Actor” was the first awarded for a role portraying an openly gay character.
- Interior scenes were filmed in a closed prison, exterior scenes – in São Paulo.
- After filming wrapped, William Hurt and Raúl Juliá (1940-1994) spent another five weeks doing voice work. This allowed the screenwriter, Leonard Schrader, to rewrite their dialogue to shift the emphasis in line with his original intentions. Work on the film concluded with the end of the post-production period, which lasted 14 months.
- Almost the entire film budget went to filming, so there was a catastrophic lack of money for post-production. Moreover, the producers planned to finish everything in two months, but editing took almost a year.
- The interiors of the cells were filmed at 'Vera Cruz Studios' near São Paulo. For ease of filming, they were constructed so that the height of the walls could be changed.
- The film was created and released nine years after the first publication of the identically titled novel by Argentine writer Manuel Puig (1932-1990) in 1976. The writer himself adapted the book for the stage, and the play was staged in 1985. In 1993, the novel was made into a musical.
- The main "film within a film" was called "Her True Glory." It was claimed that it was filmed by the Nazis in Germany during World War II, and that it is both a wartime romance and a piece of propaganda.
- Sonia Braga appears in the film itself, and in both "films within a film," playing a total of three roles – Leni, Martha, and the Spider Woman.
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