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Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
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Overview
Release Date:
26 July 1985 (USA) morePlot:
Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cell mates in a South American prison. Luis, a homosexual, is found... more | add synopsisPlot Keywords:
Film With Ambiguous Title
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Homophobia
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Soiling Pants
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First Gay Sexual Experience
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Play Within Play
more
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Belated 'Kiss' (From New York Post. 8 July 2008, 1:09 AM, PDT)
Hurt's Oscar Stolen (From WENN. 15 February 2006)
User Comments:
dictatorships moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
120 minColor:
Color (Metrocolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Canada:14 (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Netherlands:12MOVIEmeter: 
49% since last week
why?
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Sonia Braga did not speak English at the time of production, and had to recite her lines phonetically. moreQuotes:
[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.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Everybody Hates Chris: Everybody Hates Ex-Cons (#3.17)" (2008) moreFAQ
What does the title "Kiss of the Spider Woman" mean?Wasn't this a musical on Broadway?
Is this movie based on a novel?
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Raul Julia and William Hurt play Valentin Arregui and Luis Molina, cell-mates in a South American jail. Valentin is a political prisoner trying to keep his sanity, and Luis is a gay man with fantasies of Nazis and their beautiful women. These two men are opposites in virtually every way, but are forced to grow to respect each other. Sonia Braga plays the woman in both men's fantasies: the "Spider Woman" and the Nazi's lover.
That's the plot, but the movie is really a metaphor for any dictatorship. Obviously, any totalitarian state will imprison political opponents, and from what I know, most tyrants choose to lock up homosexuals. Valentin even tries to make the pro-fascist Luis understand what the Nazis did to gays. Regardless of how the two men eventually view each other, it remains a really good movie.