It came as no surprise to me when I was researching this film that it was based on a stage play. Watching it, the dialogue, the limited set pieces, everything about it felt like it was originally designed to play out on a stage. This is the kind of film where everything hinges on the performances of two actors, and there is an intimacy there that you rarely get from a film but is prevalent in live theater when it is done well.
The film originated as a 1976 novel, El beso de la mujer araña by Argentine writer Manuel Puig. This novel was translated into English three years later and then adapted by the author into a play in 1983. This was then adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1985. It has since been adapted again to the stage as a musical, a television special, and again for the screen, this time as an adaptation of the musical. None of these reimaginings have quite captured the sheer raw power of the original film or the prose on which it was based on.
The set-up is simple; two men, vastly different from each other, are put in a prison cell together and eventually learn to respect each other despite being polar opposites. On the one hand, there is Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia), a political prisoner jailed for his activities on behalf of a leftist revolutionary group during the Brazilian military dictatorship. He is routinely tortured in an attempt to force him to reveal important secrets about his underground ties but has thus far remained silent.
On the other hand is Luis Molina (William Hurt), a gay trans man being held for “corrupting an underage youth.” Luis holds no political ties, something that angers Valentin, and passes the long hours of imprisonment by recounting memories from one of his favorite films, a wartime romantic thriller that also happens to be a Nazi propaganda film. His recollections of the old film weave in characters and plot points meant to distract, maybe even comfort, Valentin during his political imprisonment and separation from his lover, Marta (Sônia Braga, who also plays the women in Luis’s other narratives, blending realities and fiction).
So well written are these characters that a late revelation, that I will not reveal here, catches us off-guard yet doesn’t ring false. On repeat viewings it is truthfully telegraphed yet in a subtle way that doesn’t call attention to itself. This story isn’t about that, though, but about the developing relationship between these very different men who, over the course of the film, grow an appreciation for each other that can only come from two individuals being forced to spend so much time together.
While both William Hurt and Raul Julia are giving powerful and emotional performances, most major award ceremonies focused on Hurt and his transformative performance as Luis. There is no denying that Hurt is mesmerizing in a role that is nothing like anything I have ever seen him in before, but he is as effective as he is because he has Julia as a foil. Neither performance works in a vacuum. To be sold on these characters, you have to have their interactions, and both sides are giving 100% to it. I have rarely been so moved by the leads in a film, especially Raul Julia. His tale about how he was captured for passing an illegal passport on to an aged resistance fighter and how he was separated from his lover is hard to experience.
On first glance, it would seem that this film is about two very opposite people changing their views for each other. That is part of it, but there is a lot more than just that. These are two men who have nothing in common but share the same experiences day in and day out, giving them a common bond. The details are such, though, that to go into them here would be to spoil the film, so I will say no more about that, just that there is a lot to unpack and a shocking revelation midway through.
This is a film that I wish I had discovered many years ago. It surprised me in many ways, and I was moved by the emotional relationship that developed between these two men. The ending doesn’t come as much of a surprise other than how it is presented. Puig’s visual description of things is both harrowing and poignant, desolate and uplifting. It felt inevitable. He blends fantasy with reality in a way that carries you away as the film comes to a close, leaving you with just enough unanswered questions to keep you pondering the film for some time afterwards. It’s an ingenious way to conclude the movie without leaving you feeling brought down by an ending that was never going to be a happy-ever-after.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: David Weisman
Best Director: Héctor Babenco
Best Actor: William Hurt (won)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Leonard Schrader
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Release Date: July 26, 1985
Running Time: 121 minutes
Rated R
Starring: William Hurt, Raúl Julia, Sônia Braga, José Lewgoy, Milton Gonçalves, and Denise Dumont
Directed by: Héctor Weisman
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