Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

Director:

Hector Babenco

Writers:

Manuel Puig (novel)
Leonard Schrader (writer)

Release Date:

26 July 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cell mates in a South American prison. Luis, a homosexual, is found...

Plot Keywords:

Political | Homosexual | Prison | Homophobia | Jail

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

William Hurt	...	Luis Molina
Raul Julia	...	Valentin Arregui
Sonia Braga	...	Leni Lamaison / Marta / Spider Woman
José Lewgoy	...	Warden
Milton Gonçalves	...	Secret Policeman
Míriam Pires	...	Mother Molina
Nuno Leal Maia	...	Gabriel, Molina's friend
Fernando Torres	...	Americo
Patricio Bisso	...	Greta
Herson Capri	...	Werner, Leni's German lover and Chief of Counter-Intelligence in movie fantasy
Denise Dumont	...	Michelle, Leni's best friend in movie fantasy (as Denise Dummont)
Antônio Petrin	...	Clubfoot, Resistance fighter in movie fantasy
Wilson Grey	...	Flunky, Resistance fighter in movie fantasy
Miguel Falabella	...	Lieutenant
Walter Breda	...	Agent #1
Luis Guilherme	...	Agent #2
Walmir Barros	...	Agent #3
Ana Maria Braga	...	Lidia
Luiz Serra	...	Prison Doctor
Benjamin Cattan	...	Molina's Friend
Oswaldo Barreto	...	Molina's Friend
Sergio Bright	...	Molina's Friend
Claudio Curi	...	Molina's Friends
Lineu Dias	...	Bank Cashier
Joe Kantor	...	Judge
Luis Roberto Galizia	...	Nurse
Pericles Campos	...	Prison Guard
Edmilson Santos	...	Prison Guard
Walter Vicca	...	Prison Guard
Ken Kaneko	...	Prison Guard (as Kenichi Kaneko)
Geogers Schlesinger	...	Jewish Smuggler
Carlos Fariello	...	Jewish Smuggler
Frederico Botelho	...	Jewish Smuggler
Sylvio Band	...	Rabbi
Paulo Ludmer	...	Rabbi
Elvira Bisso	...	Maid
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nildo Parente	...	Butler / Resistance Leader

Directed by
Hector Babenco

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Manuel Puig		novel
Leonard Schrader		writer

Produced by
Altamiro Boscoli	....	associate producer
Paulo Francini	....	associate producer
Gustavo Halbreich	....	associate producer
Jane Holzer	....	associate producer
Michael Maiello	....	associate producer
Francisco Ramalho Jr.	....	executive producer
Jaime Sverner	....	associate producer
David Weisman	....	producer

Original Music by
Nando Cordeiro
John Neschling

Cinematography by
Rodolfo Sánchez

Film Editing by
Mauro Alice

Production Design by
Clovis Bueno

Art Direction by
Clovis Bueno

Costume Design by
Patricio Bisso

Makeup Department
Nilda de Moura	....	hair stylist
Nena de Oliveira	....	makeup artist
Guilherme Pereira	....	makeup artist: Ms. Braga
Marco Simon	....	hairdresser: Ms. Braga

Production Management
John Paul Lussier	....	unit production manager
Liza Monteiro	....	production manager: Brazil

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Amilcar Monteiro Claro	....	assistant director (as Amilcar Monero)
Flávio R. Tambellini	....	assistant director

Art Department
Nanci Audi	....	props
Felipe Crescenti	....	set designer
Solange Magerowski	....	assistant art director
Cecília Ribeiro	....	assistant art director
Berta Segall	....	assistant art director
Mique Stedile	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Mark Berger	....	supervising re-recording mixer
Paul Coombe	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ismael Cordeiro	....	production sound mixer
Susan Dudeck	....	supervising sound editor
Scott Ganary	....	foley mixer
Gary Gegan	....	foley mixer
Allan Hartz	....	sound editor
Val Kuklowsky	....	supervising adr editor
Lorie O'Shatz	....	sound editor
Philip Rogers	....	sound recordist
Jeff Rosen	....	sound editor
José Luiz Sasso	....	sound engineer
Peter Waggoner	....	sound re-recording mixer
Cathy Welch	....	assistant sound editor
Hugo Weng	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
José Marchesin	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Robert Dawson	....	optical director

Camera and Electrical Department
Wilmar Moreira Carvalho	....	electrician
Felipe Daviña	....	assistant camera
José Alves do Nascimento	....	electrician
João Antônio Duarte	....	electrician
Mário Souza Gama	....	electrician
Odair Guarani	....	assistant camera
Jamelão	....	gaffer
Lúcio Kodato	....	photographer: second unit
José Carlos Lampa	....	electrician
José Manir	....	electrician
Jamelao Medeiros	....	gaffer
Oswaldo Moreira	....	electrician
Adalberto Padouim	....	electrician
Lelio Rodrigues	....	grip
Antônio Alves Souza	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Zeze Braga	....	dress maker: Miss Braga's dresses
Therezinka Ferreira	....	dress maker
Mauricio Kawamura	....	wardrobe
Avy Marciano	....	dress maker

Editorial Department
Cristina Amaral	....	assistant editor
Regina Dias	....	assistant editor
Galileu Garcia Jr.	....	assistant editor
Helen Hahn	....	negative cutter
Sergio Marin	....	assistant editor
Dennis McNeill	....	color timer
Rebecca Nauert	....	assistant editor
Rebecca Nauert	....	post-production coordinator
Lee Percy	....	additional editor

Music Department
Wally Badarou	....	composer: additional score
Michael Jary	....	composer: song "Je sais qu'un jour"
Zarah Leander	....	soloist

Other crew
Daniel Bickel	....	production coordinator
Mara Borba	....	choreographer
Murilo Carvalho	....	production assistant
Jorge Carvallo	....	assistant: Mr. Hurt
Carla Chertel	....	production assistant
Robert Dawson	....	title designer: main titles
Marçal de Souza	....	production assistant
Alberto Gieco	....	script supervisor
Daniel Gomez	....	assistant: Mr. Julia
Rui Lima	....	production assistant
Tony Payne	....	assistant to producers
Carmen Rodrigues	....	secretary
Rene Silber	....	production assistant
Janete Tsuha	....	accountant
David E. Van Houten	....	publicity designer
Oscar Veliz	....	production assistant
Edgard Zilberberg	....	production assistant
Roberto Herrero	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• FilmDallas Pictures
• HB Filmes
• Sugarloaf Films Inc.

Distributors

• Island Alive (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Strand Releasing
• Concorde Filmverleih (1986) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Embrafilme (1985) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• FilmDallas Pictures (1985-2000) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hungry Eye (1985) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1985) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Charter Entertainment (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Cineplex-Odeon Home Video (1986) (Canada) (VHS)
• City Lights Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• City Lights Pictures (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Independent Cinema Restoration Archive (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• MCA Home Video (1986) (Canada) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (1990) (Germany) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Saul Zaentz Film Center  sound re-recording
• Sound One Corporation  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

O Beijo da Mulher Aranha (Brazil)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

Brazil | USA

Language:

English | French | Portuguese | German

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:14 (Ontario) | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Praça da Sé, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Company:

FilmDallas Pictures

Trivia:

Sonia Braga did not speak English at the time of production, and had to recite her lines phonetically.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Luis Molina: She's... well, she's something a little strange. That's what she noticed, that she's not a woman like all the others. She seems all wrapped up in herself. Lost in a world she carries deep inside her.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Married with Children: Kiss of the Coffee Woman (#10.25)" (1996)

This Weird Movie Will Catch You in Its Web

A bizarre, evocative film which seems strange even now -- I can't imagine what audiences made of it in 1985.

William Hurt and Raul Julia play cell mates, one gay, the other straight, rotting away in a Latin American prison under the iron thumb of a tyrannical dictatorship. At first, Julia's Latin machismo makes him repelled by Hurt's flamboyant femininity, but the two gradually bond, thrown together as they are, and discover a kind of love that transcends conventions about love and sex and that can probably only exist between two people surviving in extreme conditions.

Hurt, already known as a strapping leading man at the time, took quite a risk playing this fey character, especially at a time when movies still weren't comfortable with mainstream portrayals of gays, but his risk payed off -- he won that year's Best Actor Academy Award and became just about the hottest actor in town for a few years there in the mid-80s. Julia has a much less showy role, but the success of the film is dependent upon the strength of both male leads, and he delivers. Sonia Braga plays the eponymous spider woman, a dream figure cobbled together by both men from their imaginations and memories of old movies.

This film is a big downer, but if you enjoy well-acted, well-written stories, then the depressing ending is worth it.

Grade: A