Welcome back to the Oscar Film Journal, here at Enuffa.com! Even deep into August I'm still slowly chipping away at the list of Best Picture nominees....
Today's subject is the 1985 prison drama Kiss of the Spider Woman, directed by Héctor Babenco and starring William Hurt and Raul Julia. Based on a 1976 Manuel Puig novel, the film would I guess be considered a character study of two men of very different backgrounds forming a friendship over the span a month of being trapped in a Brazilian prison cell. Luis Molina (Hurt) is a gay man incarcerated for corrupting a minor, while Valentin Arregui (Julia) is a political prisoner who was arrested in a plot to overthrow the country's military dictatorship. To pass the time and to take both their minds off their situation, Molina recounts in great detail the storyline of one of his favorite films, a German propaganda film (Molina confesses he doesn't care about its politics, he just likes the story). KOTSW jumps back and forth between the real world and scenes from the fictitious movie, and we learn that Molina is a prison informant tasked with getting information from Valentin to pass onto the warden, in exchange for an early release.
KOTSW earned four Oscar nods and its sole win went to William Hurt for Best Actor, but I think I admired Raul Julia's performance more. Julia's role is less showy but he deftly conveys the hurt and unresolved anger of his imprisonment and torture, as well as the longing for his lover Marta (played by Sonia Braga, who also doubles as the imaginary film's central character). Hurt's performance starts out as very flamboyant as though he's putting on an act for his cellmate, but gradually becomes more vulnerable and understated as the story plays out. The two characters each show kindness toward each other and develop a real affection. Valentin brings out Molina's sense of social justice, while Molina helps Valentin learn to let his guard down and find some kind of peace in this hellscape.
While the performances are both strong I must confess I found myself looking for a deeper meaning to the story. The vast majority of the film takes place in this one room and then in the third act we finally get a change of scenery. But it's all wrapped up neatly in a way that nothing really comes of the friendship we've watched develop over the preceding two hours. Both characters have a sort of arc, but in neither case does said arc lead to anything. This film felt like a vehicle for two characters that isn't particularly compelling as a narrative. Molina learns to care about the cause, but he doesn't get the chance to affect it. Valentin learns to self-sooth by going to a "happy place," but then what? In the end I wasn't sure what was the point of it all; we spend a couple hours with these characters, and then it's just over. Apparently this was a somewhat common critique of the novel at the time, so at least I don't feel so obtuse at not really getting it....
I give the film **1/2 out of ****.
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