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From: moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: SEATTLE FILM FESTIVAL PREMIERE: Kiss of the Spider Woman
Message-ID: <725@vax2.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Jun-85 02:54:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax2.725
Posted: Fri Jun 21 02:54:42 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Jun-85 23:57:33 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Lines: 42

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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