Kiss of the Spider Woman 4K 1985 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

Two men in a South American prison share a cell, one for indecent behavior, the other for political reasons. While the first tries to escape reality, the second thinks about the reasons for the situation. They will have to learn to understand and respect each other.

Review 4K Movie

The book by Manuel Puig, on which the film is based, is written entirely in the form of dialogues. Most of the dialogue is spoken by Molina, a flamboyant homosexual who considers himself a woman in a man's body and is serving time for the sexual abuse of a minor. His detailed retellings of his favorite films help Valentin, a member of the resistance movement, pass the time and get through unpleasant moments.
Over time, a friendship develops between these two very different men—one afraid of everything, the other fearless to the point of recklessness. And then a new detail emerges: it turns out that the prison authorities have hired Molina to watch Valentin and extract information from him about the resistance movement. They even caught another activist and put him in the cell opposite, hoping that this would loosen Valentin's tongue.

Valentin does indeed begin to tell Molina something, but Molina is in no hurry to report it to the authorities. He plays for time, trying to negotiate some kind of comfort for himself and his comrade... In the end, the top brass realize that the prisoner has simply fallen in love with his cellmate and now, of course, will not reveal anything. So they release Molina and put a tail on him—maybe he will lead them to the resistance.

Héctor Babenco, a Ukrainian Jew born in Argentina, did a great job with the film adaptation. Unfortunately, the film did not win Oscars for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, but who can say that the nominations were undeserved? Those who have read the original can imagine how simple and yet how difficult it was to turn it into a screenplay: on the one hand, the whole book is full of ready-made dialogues, but on the other hand, all the action and the setting have to be thought out.

However, the Oscar that the film did win was earned through the hard work of William Hurt. He had a difficult role to play and even had to work with a choreographer to make his movements look graceful and feminine. The other two main actors also did an excellent job, with Sonia Braga being particularly surprising, as she did not know a word of English at the time and memorized everything automatically. Fernando Torres is also listed among the actors, although he has no connection to Spanish soccer. But that's just a side note.

I liked how Molina's stories about cinema were presented. Of all the stories in the book, the screenwriter left only one—a fictional picture about a French woman's love for a German officer. I think this was the right move, as this story subtly echoes the main plot line. The inserts are shot in sepia and make you nostalgic for the golden age of cinema.

The film is clearly not for a wide audience, and it's not about gay people, whatever you may think. It's about how people shouldn't allow themselves to be humiliated—only then will they find courage.