Kiss of the Spider Woman (Portuguese: O Beijo da Mulher Aranha) is a 1985 drama film directed by Héctor Babenco from a screenplay by Leonard Schrader, based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Manuel Puig.
It stars William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, José Lewgoy, Milton Gonçalves, and Denise Dumont.
[3] Set in a Brazilian prison during the military dictatorship, the film centers on a dialogue between two very different cellmates, a hardened leftist revolutionary (Julia) and an apolitical gay man (Hurt).
Kiss of the Spider Woman premiered on May 13, 1985, at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival, where Hurt won the Best Actor award and Babenco was nominated for the Palme d'Or.
He weaves the characters into a narrative meant to comfort Valentin and distract him from the harsh realities of political imprisonment and separation from his lover, Marta.
On the orders of the police chief, the policemen dump Molina's body in a rubbish pit and fabricate a story about his death and his presumed collaboration with the revolutionary group.
The film is based on the 1976 novel El beso de la mujer araña (Kiss of the Spider Woman) by Manuel Puig.
At the reception, Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas asked Babenco about his future projects, and the director mentioned his desire to adapt Puig's novel, starring Burt Lancaster.
Although Lancaster was attached, giving it built-in marketability, the novel's non-traditional narrative made it a challenge to adapt, and its homosexual theme was perceived as a detriment to attracting mainstream audiences.
However, Babenco remained wary of anglicizing the source material, and was relieved by the casting of Puerto Rican actor Raul Julia, who replaced Richard Gere.
This, along with Lancaster's advancing age, and a heart bypass operation in Apr 1983, caused the production to be delayed, and the filmmakers turned to William Hurt as a replacement.
The morning after Hurt consented to the role, Weisman and Babenco met with independent producer Ray Stark, whose company, Rastar, had been acquired by Columbia Pictures.
Rehearsals took place in a São Paulo prison that had been vacated in the wake of riots, and sets were constructed at Vera Cruz Studios, which had been abandoned due to bankruptcy.
[7] Hurt and Julia had agreed to work for the Screen Actors Guild pay scale, and deferred the greater portion of their salaries for a profit-share in the sale of the film's distribution rights, as well as its box-office gross.
While Babenco and Weisman were also working for the same “deferred investment plan,” other players, including actress Sônia Braga, opted to be paid upfront.
The site's consensus states; "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.
[12] The DVD version contains a bonus disc with a 108-minute documentary (accessible in English via subtitles) Tangled Web: Making 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' (2008).