Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Devran ikiz It is very hard to tell what "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is all about with only one explanation. It is a film of differences and controversies. It is a story of two opposite characters sharing the same prison cell during the military regime in Brazil. One of them is Luis, (William Hurt) a transgender woman, jailed for having sex with an underage boy. The other one is Valentin (Raul Julia), jailed for his activities on behalf of a revolutionary group. Their unlikely friendship is defined through the realities of Valentin and the fantasy world that is created by Luis using the scenes and plots from a Nazi Propaganda film. Luis is telling the story of the film to escape the reality and creates an alternative world both for Valentin and himself. Kiss of the Spider Woman is a controversial film with detailed conversations that are the strongest points of the film. Its beauty is hidden in the depths and intensities of the characters, their sentences and conversations. In almost every scene there is a clash of thoughts and controversies, but even so, both Valentin and Luis manage to form a highly unusual friendship. Luis is telling the story of a film about Nazis, but, in my opinion, that film is the combination of everything he has seen and his inner thoughts. It is amazing how this same film is perceived from totally opposite angles. Luis enjoys the love and passion of the main character, where Valentin hates the story because Nazis are against his own beliefs. Characters, also in the made-up film, are different than each other by all means. This is very important for the message of the film. Because after all, the inner thoughts of these men are not that different even though their lives are. Kiss of the Spider Woman is a film within a film. This is the most common expression used for defining this film. Because when there is a real story going on, in the same time Luis is also telling a different story. In my opinion that story carries the real message of the film; because, as I have mentioned above, it is the inner thoughts of Luis and how he pictures fantasy. That fantasy is his own reality. This is visualized in the best possible way. In some scenes we get to see Valentin yelling at Luis and calling him names. This is reality. He really does that, but on the other hand, in one scene when guard gives him two plates with food, he sees that one plate has more food than the other and insists Luis to take it. With a simple gesture like this, we get to see the transformation of Valentin against his own reality.Those two characters end the film in a very different place than they have started. There is not even one sentence or one conversation that is there just to fill in an empty spot. In every word, every sentence and gesture there is a deep character analysis of the director Hector Babenco. This highly characterized conversations got him a nomination for Best Director Award. In a character oriented film like this, it would be such a shame for William Hurt not to get the Best Actor in a Leading Role Award. For the year 1985, I can say that he is playing a highly unusual character with a complicated life and soul. You feel these complications from the beginning until the very end of the film. Other than the films that are told by Luis, Kiss of the Spider Woman takes place mostly in a prison cell except for the last 15 minutes. So, imagine how conversations are fulling their missions and keep audience within the range of interest. When Luis is telling the story of the film, audience get to listen and wonder what will happen next. Even in this point, Kiss of the Spider Woman is unique. During the film, he keeps telling different stories of different films. Actually, Kiss of the Spider Woman gets its name from one of those stories. That woman turns out to be the lover of Valentin who has nothing to do with his reality and belief. Valentin portrays her as rich and beautiful. His whispering her name in his sleep is a splendid example of what Valentin actually wants and what he actually does. His complicated inner self is explained also in the scene where he refuses to eat avocado for self-discipline. In this point of view the director shows us that, basically, both of the characters are actually the mirror of each other. It is such an extraordinary talent to be able to share the message of being actually the very same person by using only controversial points and oppositions of the characters. Luis is the inner self of Valentin, whereas Valentin is the reality of Luis.Kiss of the Spider Woman is an amazing film from the points I have tried to explain above. We are trying very hard to be the person we are not, and we are the person that we want to be, mostly in our thoughts, a reality that is reflected very well in the film. This highly characterized film is nominated for Best Picture as well as Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The message of the film is like a universal truth. The unlikely friendship of the characters is the essential for making this film truly amazing.

gavin6942 Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cell mates in a South American prison. Luis, a trans individual, is found guilty of immoral behavior and Valentin is a political prisoner. To escape reality Luis invents romantic movies, while Valentin tries to keep his mind on the situation he's in. During the time they spend together, the two men come to understand and respect one another.William Hurt won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for Best Picture (the first independent film to do so -- it lost to "Out of Africa"), Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Hurt also won Best Actor at the BAFTA Awards, the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and several other festivals. The film was awarded the inaugural Golden Space Needle award from the Seattle International Film Festival.William Hurt is incredible, but so is Raul Julia. It seems he is today (2015) best remembered for playing Gomez Addams, but he was so much more than that.

kenjha A homosexual and a political prisoner bond in a South American prisoner. Hurt is flamboyant as the homosexual, a role that won him an Oscar. While it is an interesting performance, it also comes across as somewhat showy and insincere. Julia is equally good as his cell mate, a gruff fellow who develops a fondness for Hurt. Unfortunately, the talents of the two stars are wasted in a dreary drama that seems to have no narrative flow. Hurt narrates to Julia the plot of a B-movie, and too much time is devoted to boring, melodramatic scenes of this fictitious film within film. Braga is given three roles, but none of them is the least bit interesting.

jayd65 I can understand the deeper issues that this movie was exploring, but frankly it moved slow, I personally found the script boring, and just plain crap. So many cliché moments, and it seemed very stereotypical to me. I remember seeing this movie in the theaters, and the two other people in the theater (who arrived with me) out of the three of us there I was the only one who could stay awake for it. As my worst movie going experience of my life I am surprised when I stumbled upon this review to find 7.4 stars out of 10, and felt that I had to provide a balanced input into this movie. I enjoyed attack of the killer tomatoes more than I did this movie, or something more recent say Borat, that was a better movie. Hell even white hunter black heart was a much better movie than this. If you know what is good for you, only watch this movie if your idea of entertainment is to explore a very narrow, stereotypical view of what will happen to two men in prison if one is already gay to begin with.