DVD Alert: Kiss of the Spider Woman
A Special Edition of the groundbreaking film Kiss of the Spider Woman is being released on DVD on October 21st. If you never saw the film, do yourself a favor and check it out. Not only was it the first "indie" to be nominated for an Oscar (four, to be exact), the story is somehow just as hauntingly relevant today as it was 20 years ago.
Starring William Hurt as a gay man imprisoned for "immoral acts" in an unnamed Latin American country and Raul Julia as his political-activist cell mate, the film explores the how the two very different men find common ground and friendship under the most inhumane of circumstances. Both actors give powerful performances: the role of Valentin made Julia a household name long before he played Gomez Adams; Hurt's Luis Molina marked the first time an actor won an Oscar for playing an out homosexual.
If you have seen it, then treat yourself with the disc's incredible Special Features, including: a Trivia Track; a Feature Length Documentary Tangled Web: Making Kiss of the Spider Woman; a Mini-Documentary The Submissive Woman's Role; Spider Woman on Broadway: Mini-Documentary with Hal Prince, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Chita Rivera, Terrence McNally, Manuel Puig; a Slide Show Commentary: Transition from Novel to Film; and Photo Galleries: Over 150 Exquisite Images.
If you haven't seen the movie, it's well worth the time. When I first saw it many years ago, I was put off by Molina's stereotypical effeminancy and by a few other key elements, but all was redeemed in the final seconds of the film when I realized that it was all exactly right. I found it very powerful.
Posted by: Wayne | October 22, 2008 at 02:53 PM