Kiss of the Spider Woman

R

Released Jun 29, 1985

1h 59m

Drama

List

86%

35 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In a prison cell somewhere in Latin America, two very different men warily confront each other. Molina (William Hurt) is first seen wrapping his head in a towel, in the shape of a turban, while Valentin (Raul Julia), bearded and classically macho in appearance, watches with a mixture of fascination and revulsion. During the time spent together, the two men come to understand and respect each other.

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Critics Consensus

Kiss of the Spider Woman weaves an alluring exploration of sexual and societal norms that's further elevated by strong work from William Hurt and Raul Julia.

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reginaldo h

O talento de mestre do diretor Hector Babenco atinge o seu ápice nesse bravo exemplar da mais pura arte contemporânea capturadas em celuloide. Um sucesso internacional foi o primeiro filme independente indicado ao Oscar de melhor filme. Raul Julia, William Hurt e o brilhante elenco de apoio brilham nesse roteiro que é uma aula. Mas o nome do filme é O Beijo da Mulher Aranha e A Mulher Aranha e a Deusa Sonia Braga 🕸️

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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 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 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 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

steve d

Hurt gives one of the greatest performances of all time.

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 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

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Hector Babenco

Director

William Hurt

Luis Molina

Raul Julia

Valentin Arregui

Sonia Braga

Leni Lamaison

José Lewgoy

Warden

Nuno Leal Maia

Gabriel

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Jay Scott

Globe and Mail

Adaptations of great books can fail with satisfying style: this one goesdown with all hands on deck dancing.

Dec 6, 2022

Full Review

Bill Cosford

Miami Herald

There’s a lot going on in Kiss of the Spider Woman, and though at bottom it is little more than a variant of two-guys-in-stir, it is so well made and ultimately so tender that it is likely to find a large American audience.

Apr 5, 2022

Full Review

Paul Attanasio

Washington Post

... a flaccid gabfest from beginning to end that manages to both undermine politics and trivialize art.

Jan 4, 2018

Full Review

Kieth Maranger

Our Own Community Press (Norfolk, VA)

Kiss of the Spider Woman deftly shows how a gay man and a straight man can change each other's attitudes.

May 3, 2023

Full Review

David Reddish

Queerty

To understand its place in queer cinema history, and to understand what the world lost with the passing of Hurt and Julia, give it a watch. Prepare to get stuck in this spiderweb.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 20, 2022

Full Review

Chase Burns

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Juliá's character is terse and eruptive, simultaneously intrigued and hateful of his cellmate. The script, based on a novel by Manuel Puig, is full of wicked lines.

Jan 8, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

In a prison cell somewhere in Latin America, two very different men warily confront each other. Molina (William Hurt) is first seen wrapping his head in a towel, in the shape of a turban, while Valentin (Raul Julia), bearded and classically macho in appearance, watches with a mixture of fascination and revulsion. During the time spent together, the two men come to understand and respect each other.

Director: Hector Babenco
Producer: Francisco Ramalho Jr.
Screenwriter: Leonard Schrader, Manuel Puig
Distributor: Strand Releasing
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Portuguese (Brazil)
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 29, 1985, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $13.2M
Runtime: 1h 59m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)