Kiss of the
Spider Woman
b y Eleem or M a lin
Two faces in a cell — one the face of a
homosexual in m akeup, telling a story; the
other a political prisoner huddled in the
shadows, scarred, bloody.
The storyteller recounts, in detail, the story
from a Nazi propaganda film, which serves as
transportation and counterpoint to the story­
line of the two m en's relationship. William
Hurt as M olina plays the woman’s face to
Raul Julia's male prisoner. The two begin as
polar opposites — feminine-masculine,
rom antic-idealist, hedonist-spartan,
fantacist-realist
As the m ale side in the match, Julia plays a
prisoner who has been systematically tor­
tured. They have interrupted his interrogation
and he wonders why. H e guesses there is
som ething they want to And o u t His situation
really is desperate. He knows once they get
what they w ant his num ber is up. He's got
nothing to look forward to, and nothing to
lose.
M olina passes the tim e by "telling a movie"
— which for most of the film is the Nazi
propaganda movie, com plete with amazing
plot twists and em bellishment by Molina.
A constant them e in the main movie is
contradiction. As the political activist, Valen­
tin Arregui, Julia at first objects to being en­
tertained by a Nazi story, when the Nazis are
against everything he believes in. Moreover^
he is suffering heavily as a result of fascist
behaviors, and is surely scheduled for more
suffering shortly. B u t therein lies the
paradox. He is entertained. His situation is so
desperate, why n o t
As the wom an in the B-m ovie clips, Leni
Lamaison, a French cabaret singer, then later
as the Spider W oman, Sonia Braga gets to lay
it on with a trowel. These segments were
perfectly done — splendiferous cam p — with
the look and feel and silliness of a rom antic
'30s film .
Molina turns to telling a movie whenever
he or Valentin is in particular need, which
seems to be m ost o f the tim e.
Valentin is being poisoned. M olina knows
about it M olina is in league with the warden
to try and track down Valentin's cadre (in
exchange for parole). The warden also wants
him to identify another political prisoner
across the way from their cell.
Molina covers his trips to the warden’s of­
fice by saying it's his m other visiting. He tells
the warden he must have groceries, and
here’s m ore irony; Molina feeds Valentin the
groceries, to get him past the poison.
At some p o in t Molina finishes the Nazi
m ovie and Leni is transform ed into the
Spider W om an, living on a deserted island
completely covered with a web growing out
of her. One considers that this m ight be a
symbol of the intrigue and the trap set for
Valentin, since he washes up on the beach in
the scenario as a shipwrecked sailor, but
since that’s too easy, we won't m ention it
The two men, as a result o f the shared
prison experiences, and debates over the
telling o f the movies, begin to expand their
horizons. Valentin, questioned about his
young girlfriend in the m ovem ent adm its he
really loves Marta, an older, beautiful, wealthy
woman, who drops him when she finds out
about his politics. Sonja Braga plays Marta,
and we see this section through Valentin’s
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excellent Braga versatile and enigmatic,
Julia surly and suspicious. And H urt Better
here than usual.
At first I got the feeling he wasn’t pulling it
off, as a gay m ale m ight be a part he wouldn't
want to be too good a t But he really began to
look vulnerable after awhile, and in his final
scenes, he’s really convincing. He’s really
working hard in this part
Kiss o f the S pider W oman opens at The
Movie House on October 4.
eyes, it being his memory. He is becoming
m ore able to share his feelings.
At one p o in t M olina shows up with a super
sack o f groceries (he has had tim e to think it
over), and included in the haul is a box of
candy, a red, heart-shaped velour box (candy
for my Valentine?). Good use is made of
symbolism and color. The old film clips are
black and white or tinted. The groceries look
so colorful against the squalor of the cell. The
prison food looks like dog food. The box of
candy is so red against the prison blues, and
so is the blood.
By the end o f this film , Valentin has
identified the other prisoner, who has died by
then, anyway. M olina has been let out on a
special parole, because the warden hopes he
w ill lead them to the rest of the group. Valentin
has progressed quite a distance from his
original stance, but then, so has Molina, who
ignores his old life to take up the destiny o f a
poltical person.
Valentin is in the infirm ary, in so m uch pain
he’s just been given a shot of m orphine by
the attendant so he can get some rest The
attendant asks Valentin not to m ention it as it
could cost his job. On th other hand, it could
have been ordered to cause addiction and
get to the heart o f the matter.
Valentin starts dream ing a movie-type
dream. Marta is in it She tells him not to
worry, it’s a short dream but a beautiful one.
W hen M olina told his movie, often it was to
pull Valentin through his pain. Is Marta now
pulling him through pain to keep him alive, or
is he now dying? Is it the morphine?
This movie was made as though it had
been woven. The three main characters were
JammirYatthe
Gender Gap II
Five top northwest w om en’s m usical acts
w ill be showcased at the second annual
“Jam m in’ at the Gender Gap" festival o f wo­
m en’s music. Starry N ight w ill open its doors
at 6:00 pm, Saturday, O ctober 19th, for this
benefit for Portland NOW. The public (over
21) is invited to attend this unique m usic
festival which w ill run from 7:00 pm to
1:00 am.
B J . Castleman w ill entertain with her in im ­
itable vocals and varied piano style. The
Celtic trio, Banshee returns for the second
year o f the festival with Gayle Jewel, Robin
McRevey and Sylvia Hackathom, presenting
w om en’s folk and political traditions from
French Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and the
States. Another trio, We Three, from the Seat­
tle area, has captured Portland audiences in
the past with their a capella harmonies. Kim
Scanlon, Sarah Favret and B. Sue Johnson
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Just O ut. O ctober 1985