Kiss of the Spider Woman (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Your Nazis are about as romantic as the fucking warden and his torture room."--Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) by Héctor Babenco |
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Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) is a Brazilian film by Héctor Babenco based on the 1976 novel of the same name.
It tells the story of Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui who are cell mates in a Brazilian prison. Luis is 'guilty' of immoral behavior and Valentin is a political prisoner. To escape reality Luis invents romantic movies, while Valentin tries to keep his mind on the situation he is in. During the time they spend together, the two become romantically involved.
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Plot
The film tells of two very different men who share a prison cell in Brazil during the Brazilian military government: Valentin Arregui, who is imprisoned (and has been tortured) due to his activities on behalf of a leftist revolutionary group, and Luis Molina, a homosexual in prison for having sex with an underage boy.
Molina passes the time by recounting memories from one of his favorite films, a wartime romantic thriller that's also a Nazi propaganda film. He weaves the characters into a narrative meant to comfort Arregui and distract him from the harsh realities of political imprisonment and the separation from his lover, Marta. Arregui allows Molina to penetrate some of his defensive self and opens up. Despite Arregui occasionally snapping at Molina over his rather shallow views of political cinema, an unlikely friendship develops between the two.
As the story develops, it becomes clear that Arregui is being poisoned by his jailers to provide Molina with a chance to befriend him, and that Molina is spying on Arregui on behalf of the Brazilian secret police. Molina has namely been promised a parole if he succeeds in obtaining information that will allow the secret police to find the revolutionary group's members.
Molina falls in love with Arregui, and Arregui responds after a fashion, culminating in a physical consummation of their love on Molina's last night in prison. Molina is granted parole in the hopes Arregui will reveal information about his contacts when he knows Molina will be out of prison. Arregui provides Molina with a telephone number and message for his comrades. Molina at first refuses to take the number, fearing the consequences of treason, but he relents, and he and Arregui bid farewell with a kiss.
In the final scenes, Molina calls the telephone number, and a meeting is arranged with the revolutionary group. But the secret police have had Molina under surveillance, and a gun battle ensues, with the revolutionaries, assuming Molina has betrayed them, shooting him. As he wanders the streets wounded, the policemen catch up with him and demand that he disclose the telephone number in exchange for them taking him to the hospital for treatment, but Molina refuses and succumbs to his wounds. On the orders of the homophobic police chief (Milton Gonçalves), the policemen dump Molina's body in a rubbish pit and fabricate a story about his death and involvement with the revolutionary group.
Meanwhile, back in the prison Arregui is being treated after being tortured once again. As the doctor administers him morphine to help him sleep, risking his job in the process, Arregui escapes into a dream where he is on a tropical island with Marta.
Development
As noted in Puig's 2001 biography, Manuel Puig and the Spider Woman: His Life and Fictions, the novel was banned in Argentina, and the English translation edition preceded a widespread publication in Spanish. The novel was considered for a film adaptation by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and other directors. In 1981, Argentine-born director Héctor Babenco was in Los Angeles, to accept an award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for his breakout feature film, Pixote. At the reception, Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas asked Babenco about his future projects, and the director mentioned his desire to adapt Puig's novel, starring Burt Lancaster. The actor was in attendance at the event, and Thomas introduced him to Babenco.
When Lancaster expressed interest, Babenco initially assumed he was disingenuous, but promised to send him a copy of the novel. Several days later, Lancaster's assistant telephoned Babenco to make sure Kiss of the Spider Woman was in the mail, and the director sent it right away. The two met in the coming weeks at the New York Critics’ award ceremony, and Lancaster committed to the role of Molina.
Babenco met American producer David Weisman in early 1982 through a mutual friend to discuss bringing “Latin American magical realism” into the mainstream. Although Lancaster was attached, giving it built in marketability, the novel's untraditional narrative made it a challenge to adapt, and its homosexual theme was perceived as a detriment to attracting widespread audiences. Babenco, who was an expatriate in Brazil at that time, feared a xenophobic backlash against the production for casting American actors. Additional obstacles to the production included Manuel Puig's antagonism toward Babenco; he did not like Pixote, and suspected the director was an “opportunist.”
Cast
- William Hurt as Luis Molina
- Raul Julia as Valentin Arregui
- Sônia Braga as Leni Lamaison/Marta/Spider Woman
- José Lewgoy as Warden
- Milton Gonçalves as Secret Policeman
- Miriam Pires as Molina's mother
- Nuno Leal Maia as Gabriel, Molina's friend
- Fernando Torres as Américo
- Patricio Bisso as Greta
- Herson Capri as Werner, Leni's German lover and Chief of Counter-Intelligence in movie fantasy
- Denise Dumont as Michelle, Leni's best friend in movie fantasy
- Nildo Parente as Leader of Resistance in movie fantasy
- Antônio Petrin as Clubfoot, Resistance fighter in movie fantasy
- Wilson Grey as Flunky, Resistance fighter in movie fantasy
- Miguel Falabella as Lieutenant
- Ana Braga as Lidia, Valentin's girlfriend
- Sergio Kato as Martim, Molina's friend
Music
The OST is by Nando Carneiro, John Neschling, Wally Badarou.
See also
