 | |
List Price: $34.98 | | Label: City Lights Pictures, Independent Cinema Restorative Archive
Salesrank: 22194
Released: July 22, 2008 |
| Our Price: $34.98 |
| Used Price: $26.99 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
This groundbreaking film (the first independent ever to receive the top four Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Hector Babenco), adapted for the screen by Academy Award nominated screenwriter Leonard Schrader from Manuel Puig's novel set in a non-specific Latin American country, takes a penetrating look at the role of sex and politics under an oppressive right-wing regime. The timeless story, more relevant today than ever, follows the complex relationship between two distinctly different men with opposite views about life - building with powerful emotional crescendo as they gradually come together in a stunningly transcendental conclusion. Hurt delivers his Oscar-winning performance in this captivating tribute to the power of film and fantasy as escape from inhumane conditions.
Run time: 121 minutes
Tangled Web: Making Kiss of the Spider Woman
A strange odyssey from novel to film is chronicled in Tangled Web: Making Kiss of the Spider Woman. Creative team Manuel Puig, William Hurt, Hector Babenco, David Weisman, Leonard Schrader, and Raul Julia confess the daunting challenge and profound satisfaction of creating this watershed film - which almost never made it to the big screen. Burt Lancaster's mysterious obsession, director Babenco's epic struggle with author Puig, the birth of today's independent cinema - all play parts in the startling saga of this timeless gem. Filmmaker David Weisman's Tangled Web captures the many unique and emotional moments that serendipitously turned this courageous movie into a masterpiece.
Run time: 109 minutes
Description of Kiss of the Spider Woman (Two-Disc Collector's Edition):
Kiss of the Spider Woman starts out simply enough, hemmed in by the narrow walls of a Latin American prison cell. Molina (William Hurt) is telling his new cellmate, Valentin (Raul Julia), his favorite story. Molina is a delicate homosexual imprisoned for seducing a minor; Valentin is a bearded revolutionary still bleeding from his interrogation. If their film unfolded into the typical prison buddy plot, it'd still be a good movie. But this is a great movie. There are stories twisting within stories, each drawing a new, surprising level of difference between the two heroes: escapism versus realism, romance versus politics, gay versus straight, hero versus coward. As their unstable friendship grows more real, their stories become more vivid--whether Molina's fondly remembered Nazi propaganda noir, Valentin's tortured romantic history, or a tropical island fable told merely to pass the time. (Each substory stars Sonia Braga, a neat bit of casting that further blurs the line between fantasy and reality.) By the end, each man has changed just enough to taste the other's tragedy--a transformation that gives each the strength to define freedom on his own terms, despite the brutality of the prison and the bleak world beyond its walls. --Grant Balfour
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) Reviews:
Uniquely brilliant 
2009-06-26 - The Bottom Line:
Two men, one an intense political dissident (Raul Julia) and one a mild-mannered daydreamer (William Hurt) are in a South American prison cell together; to say more would give up the twists and turns of this fascinating drama and character study, so I will merely exhort you to go out and see this incredibly interesting film which is unlike any other movie I've seen.
3.5/4
Kiss of the Spider Woman
2009-05-22 - A "knock-out" film with a great cast. The late Raul Julia was outstanding and William Hurt was equally great. Took a long time for this film to be available on disc, but worth the wait.
Kiss Is Class!
2009-04-08 - What a great movie, made better in DVD. Kiss of the Spider Woman is a potent classic but not for everyone.
Wow! Not to be missed!
2008-11-30 - Superb script with faultless acting. Having seen this film before (on cable), I decided to see it again in the Blu-Ray, Hi-Def version. It really blew me away. It is impossible to decide whether Raul Julia (sorely missed)or William Hurt gave the best performance. They were both mesmerizing. Watching the subtle changes in character as the film progressed was such an acting "Tour De Force". Who needs blockbuster movies loaded with CGI special effects when you can be spellbound by two extremely gifted actors that grab your attention and don't let it go. Get this without delay. You will be treated to something very rare in today's films. Quality script, direction and acting.
The most delicate of kisses...
2008-11-05 - There are few films that are able to hold your interest with a simple conversation. Most movies pack on the action and suspense and travel from scenic route to scenic route in an attempt to strap you to your seat in excitement. It is truly a rare gem, a special treat, when one is able to just sit back and watch life unfold in the simplest yet most heartfelt of manners.
That is just what happens in `Kiss of the Spider Woman'.
The film opens with imprisoned homosexual Luis Molina telling a vivid story to his cellmate, Valentin Arregui. Molina acts out each scene in detail, and he croons over each and every word; his eyes lighting up as he reenacts the heroine's gown. Valentin is less than impressed, at least it would seem. Luis has been imprisoned for seducing a minor; Valentin is a political prisoner. The two couldn't be more different, yet the two of them form a bond behind these prison walls that is unlike any you or I have experienced on screen before.
The film rarely leaves the confines of the cell, departing from time to time to tell us a story (Luis likes to explain his favorite movie in great detail to help pass the time) but the film never comes off as boring. The relationship building between Molina and Arregui is enough to hold our interest for far longer than the films running time even, so don't be afraid that its small space will lead to early retirement.
William Hurt and Raul Julia are flawlessly compatible and brilliantly convey the true emotional connection between these two men. Originally they were to play opposite roles, but when chemistry wasn't right they decided to swap parts, and it worked so much better. That worked out wonderfully for Hurt (who acts down to his very tip toes), who wound up winning the Oscar for his tortured portrayal of Luis Molina.
The film is really a story within a story, as it broaches the effects of political tyranny as well as conditioned discrimination. And then there is the beautifully woven tale of Leni Lamaison, as told by Luis Molina. While Lamaison's tale is of political espionage it has a much deeper meaning, as can be seen when Molina tells his tale of the mystical Spider Woman or when Valentin confides in Molina of his love, Marta. The fact that all three of these characters are played by the same actress, Sonia Braga, help blur the boundaries of reality and fiction and help portray an aspect of these men's lives that is absent behind those cold cell walls; freedom. She represents there need to be free and she provides them escape while they are physically in bondage. You might even be urged to conclude that they represent one another; representing Valentin for Luis and Luis for Valentin, for it is within one another that they find true happiness.
The film is expertly constructed and marvelously directed by Hector Babenco who worked wonders with Leonard Schrader's adaptation of Manuel Puig's novel. The contrasts between the secluded confines of the prison cell to the gallant freedom felt on the Spider Woman's island are marvelous depictions of pure human emotion and help connect us to this beautiful tale. With brilliant performances by Hurt, Julia and Braga, accompanied by a tightly woven script and a delicate hand, `Kiss of the Spider Woman' is by far one of the best movies of all time.
