{"id":378151,"date":"2026-01-19T07:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T07:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/378151\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T07:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T07:55:10","slug":"kiss-of-the-spider-woman-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-the-criterion-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/378151\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ 4K UHD Blu-ray Review: The Criterion Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KissArgentine writer Manuel Puig\u2019s book Kiss of the Spider Woman has a theme that endures throughout all its various adaptations: that of human dignity and compassion surviving within a society that denies it. The archetypal characters of Molina, a gay window-dresser who escapes into the pop fantasies of the women\u2019s pictures he so enjoys, and Valentin, a bearded revolutionary whose life has been devoted to \u201cthe struggle,\u201d are an odd couple in their prison cell who tolerate each other\u2019s differences. Through their shared experiences, Valentin opens up to a softer, gentler worldview while Molina realizes that meaning in his lonely, falsely romanticized life can only be achieved through developing a philosophy of his own, in this case considering the possibility of being a part of Valentin\u2019s revolution.<\/p>\n

H\u00e9ctor Babenco\u2019s 1985 film contains all of those ingredients from the novel, which worked so well in the first place, and does something bizarre with them. The prison cell as depicted on screen\u2014as opposed to the abstract place in the novel, which feels like a vacuum when we only have the dialogue of Valentin and Molina to go on\u2014becomes a microcosm of their worlds. Valentin\u2019s side of the room is austere and devoid of bourgeois comforts, while Molina\u2019s is the best he can do with a few colorful things and some old black-and-white movie postcards.<\/p>\n

The movies that Molina describes to Valentin become actual films-within-a-film, and the female protagonist of each of those stories is played by S\u00f4nia Braga, who also plays Valentin\u2019s upper-class girlfriend in a flashback. Molina\u2019s movies are over-the-top, their expressionistic noir lighting standing in stark contrast to the naturalistic grimness of the prison cell.<\/p>\n

Hurt gives a strange performance, seemingly playing Molina as if he were a benevolent space alien with maternal instincts. The very film seems to be coming from Valetin\u2019s perspective, and it\u2019s fair to say that it seems to be promoting heteronormative behaviors. When Molina tells the stories of his beloved movies, Valentin imagines the woman he loves, and the film\u2019s climax involves the revolutionary having dreamlike contact with this beguiling woman of his fantasies\u2014with even Molina acting butch, getting involved in the cause, and considering making a spy-movie phone call to the rebels, as if Babenco were saying, \u201cThis is how to be a man!\u201d<\/p>\n

As to its depiction of gay love on screen, you could be excused for thinking the film was made under the Hays Code. Valentin strips off his shirt, then leans over and blows out a candle, and we cut to the morning after. Far more intimate and touching is the sequence where the captors poison Valentin and the food troubles his stomach so much that he shits his pants, after which Molina gently cleans up after him. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t disgust you?\u201d Valentin keeps repeating, puzzled at Molina\u2019s benevolence. The on-screen kiss between them is touching not because of whatever amorousness between the men it may hint at, but because it\u2019s an act of kindness. \u201cDon\u2019t allow anyone to humiliate you,\u201d Valentin says. \u201cNo one has the right to do that to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message transcends what might be seen as limitations in this film, and yet those limitations create new fissions that are pretty compelling. In much the same way audiences are fascinated by E.T., Valentin and Babenco are drawn in by Molina\u2019s open kindness. Yet Hurt\u2019s performance still transforms Valentin into an Other. If it feels grounded in reality, it\u2019s due to Hurt\u2019s committed method acting, a sense that he knows the character, knows the clothes, probably knows where every item of silverware and every hidden treasure is in the cell.<\/p>\n

For his level of dedication, Hurt won an Academy Award, and perhaps deservedly so. Julia\u2019s work went unrecognized because he doesn\u2019t get to be as colorful, yet he projects a wary intelligence and a sense of genuineness as Valentin that\u2019s more interesting to behold. Watching his Valentin, you feel that you\u2019re watching that rare thing, a decent human being, in all its idiosyncrasies. He\u2019s where Puig\u2019s attractive notion of an ideal man to love meets Babenco\u2019s notion of the hero straight men could identify with. That Babenco and Puig were able to find a common ground in this man is, in a way, as powerful as Molina and Valentin\u2019s union.<\/p>\n

Image\/Sound<\/p>\n

Criterion\u2019s presentation of a new 4K restoration of Kiss of the Spider Woman looks fantastic. The image is consistently sharp while still retaining the slight gauziness of most of the flashbacks and the film-within-the-film sequences. Detail is also very impressive, as the textures of everything from the prison walls and costumes to the actors\u2019 faces are vividly rendered, while the color balancing is naturalistic, particularly in regard to skin tones. The 5.1 surround audio presents full-bodied sound, making good use of all channels, especially whenever there\u2019s any commotion or conversations outside of Valentin and Molina\u2019s cell.<\/p>\n

Extras<\/p>\n

The most substantial extra here is the 2008 feature-length documentary on the film, which features interviews with director H\u00e9ctor Babenco and actors William Hurt and S\u00f4nia Braga. It\u2019s a fairly comprehensive doc, abundant in insight into the scriptwriting and pre-production processes, and the stretches focusing on Burt Lancaster\u2019s 14-month involvement with the film and the many iterations of the script, especially the acrimony between screenwriter Leonard Schrader and novelist Manuel Puig, are particularly interesting. An interview with Puig biographer Suzanne Jill Levine, who provides excellent analysis of the author\u2019s literary style, and a short featurette on Puig that delves into his exile from Argentina and the influence of the oppressive regime before he left are also included on the disc. Lastly is a foldout booklet with an essay by critic B. Ruby Rich that explores the film\u2019s range of political and sexual transformations.<\/p>\n

Overall<\/p>\n

Hector Babenco\u2019s adaptation of Manuel Puig\u2019s Kiss of the Spider Woman gets a solid new 4K transfer courtesy of the Criterion Collection.<\/p>\n

Score:\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0Cast: William Hurt, Raul Julia, S\u00f4nia Braga \u00a0Director: H\u00e9ctor Babenco \u00a0Screenwriter: Leonard Schrader \u00a0Distributor: The Criterion Collection \u00a0Running Time: 120 min \u00a0Rating: R \u00a0Year: 1985 \u00a0Release Date: January 27, 2026 \u00a0Buy: Video<\/a>
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