moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (06/21/85)
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (Brazil/USA, 1985)
Director: Hector Babenco
Screenwriter: Leonard Schrader, based on the novel _Manuel_Perez_
Cast: William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sonia Braga
As many of you know, William Hurt won the best actor's award at
Cannes this year in his role as a homosexual prisoner in this film,
and after seeing it, I would have to agree. The performance is
really wonderfully done, but as to the picture, it has left me with
an extremely ambiguous feeling. This is not going to be a long
review, as I am not sure there is much I can say about the film. It
tells the story of the friendship which grows between a political
prisoner in an unnamed South American prison (Julia), and his
flamboyant cellmate (Hurt). The title comes from Hurt's character's
love of describing a film he saw before being sentenced, about a
sultry French femme fatelle who Hurt likes to imagine himself as.
The film follows them through a week or two of their
imprisonment together, and then Hurt's continuation of the
friendship after he is released.
As I said before, the acting here is very good; and the story is
intersting, if not particularly emotionally involving for me.
However, it strikes me as something of a stage adaptation (the sets
are pretty static), and I just did not find the characters able to
carry my interest through the entire film. The surrealistic air that
sometimes pops up is also distracting.
I don't think I can recommend this film for the general moviegoer;
frankly, I doubt I would have gone to see it had I not been
attending the festival.
"You can thank the Rock 'n Roll detector for leading you to your doom!"
"Thanks!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
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