Film by Héctor Babenco
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Portuguese: O Beijo da Mulher Aranha) is a 1985 drama film directed by Héctor Babenco from a screenplay by Leonard Schrader, based on the 1976 novel by Argentine author Manuel Puig. It stars William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, José Lewgoy, Milton Gonçalves, and Denise Dumont.
Set in a Brazilian prison during the military dictatorship, the film centers on a dialogue between two very different cellmates, a hardened leftist revolutionary (Julia) and an apolitical gay man (Hurt). The story utilizes metafictional and film-within-a-film elements, as the latter regales the former with retellings of an old movie, whose themes mirror those of the characters.
Independently produced, principal photography occurred in São Paulo between October 1983 and March 1984.
Kiss of the Spider Woman premiered on May 13, 1985, at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival, where Hurt won the Best Actor award and Babenco was nominated for the Palme d'Or. The film was released in the United States on July 26, 1985, and in Brazil on March 13, 1986. It received critical acclaim. Hurt won the Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Actor, and the film was nominated for further three Academy Awards, including the first Best Picture nomination for a Brazilian production, the first Best Director nomination for a Brazilian filmmaker, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, in addition to Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Hurt and Julia) and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (Braga).
In 1992, Terrence McNally adapted the novel and film into a stage musical of the same name starring Chita Rivera in the title role. It won the 1993 Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. Further, a musical film adaptation was released in 2025, with Jennifer Lopez, Tonatiuh and Diego Luna in the lead roles.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.