Kiss of the Spider Woman

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William L Kiss of the Spider Woman touches on interesting thoughts on escapism, confinement, and exploitation; of its two main characters, each social outcasts for different reasons, Hurt's Luis realizes the futility of complete immersion in fantasy and eventually confronts his denigration in the eyes of those around him as a result of his prominent homosexuality, while the initial cold and grounded Valentin (Juliá) recognizes the value of his happy memories as a brief respite from the cruelty of his imprisonment. That's all well and good, but there's also aspects of this Best Picture nominee (notable as the first independently-produced film to receive the nod) that are less substantial and actually form a bit of a drag on the film. Most prominently, it trades too heavily on Hurt's highly lauded performance; a film comes along and drops a protagonist in the audiences' laps (a gay man, in the years of the HIV/AIDS crisis) that has some eccentricities as well as the bare minimum of complexity, and critics lapped it up. Hurt himself is fine, but the character isn't exactly brimming with depth, with the big moral conundrum really boiling down to "maybe I shouldn't indirectly condemn an innocent man to save myself?" The film seems like it really hates to consider any sincere moral gray areas, and that makes it feel less like it dives into the suffering that it claims to focus on, and instead gives it a token nod on the way by. Considering Kiss of the Spider Woman in the context of film representation and the development of an indie presence in mainstream cinema, it's an important stepping stone. However, it's also a bit of a relic, and far from the profound think piece on outcasts and diversion that it has often been described as. (3/5) Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/03/21 Full Review robert p William Hurt won an academy award portraying a gay in this prison movie!!!!! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member William Hurt and Raul Julia are fantastic. But I didn't enjoy the movie as much as I wanted to. Too boring and too much talking. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review steve d Hurt gives one of the greatest performances of all time. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member A sad movie, set in Brazil about a leftist counterrevolutionary and a very feminine gay guy both in jail. The movie is about the bond that takes place between them, altho originally you think it is just out of friendship/boredom/same circumstance it is later revealed Molina is spying on him. Molina tho relinquishes helping the govt as he grows closer to Valentin and eventually starts getting romantical with him. Its an odd love story, but they both gain something from the rship. Valentin learns to enjoy life in the moment a little more and not to fear pleasure. Molina learns about conviction and standing up for oneself. Of course the ending is sort of tragic, with Molina dying just like his fav sad heroines. Even in the end, his sexuality is thrown in his face as he lay bleeding out-disgusting. Its crazy to see how far the govt goes in spying and what not in this film-makes u paranoid. It seems to be missing a bit of a back story as far as the main characters go. This film was not what I expected with the title, but it was def unique n well acted. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review jona i Hits its sweet, poignant points. And the oral movies are good allusions. The performances are top-notch. But it feels more like a talky play. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Kiss of the Spider Woman

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