Final Rating: 4.5/5
Kiss of the Spider Woman, directed by Bill Condon, is an enchanting throwback to Old Hollywood, and an optimistic ode to art imitating life. Based on the 1992 musical of the same name – itself the second adaptation of Manuel Puig’s 1976 book – Spider Woman captures the energy and wonder of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire movies through exceptional choreography and brilliant performances.
Spider Woman centres on Valentin Arregui (Diego Luna) and Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), two political prisoners near the end of the Argentinian military dictatorship. Arregui may hold the key to the success or failure of the revolution, and the prison warden has hired Molina to get Arregui talking in exchange for a reduced sentence. Stuck in a horrible situation with nothing to do but talk to a man uninterested in looking up from his philosophy books, Molina decides to tell Arregui about his favourite movie: The Kiss of the Spider Woman.
The film-within-a-film is a vehicle for the illustrious Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez). Made as a vehicle for a rising Hollywood actress, the film is described as “too ambitious for its own good, too many flavours in the stew.” While Molina stresses that “nobody claims it was the greatest movie ever made,” his deprecation immediately rings false once he begins to describe how he remembers it.
In stark contrast to the dark, musty jail cell Arregui and Molina inhabit, Ingrid’s world is rendered in vibrant technicolor. Lopez and a legion of dancing extras fill lavish practical sets. Narrated by Molina, these fantasy segments tell the story of a high-powered fashion writer who falls in love, only to learn that she will lose her beau to a curse that affects the women of her village.
Molina, of course, casts himself and his cellmate in the movie as well. In addition to narrating, Molina plays a duplicitous secretary, and casts Arregui as Luna’s love interest, a handsome and idealistic photographer. The film-within-a-film parallels the prisoners’ detainment.
The photographer represents a better world for Ingrid, but one that necessitates sacrifice.
The writer’s secretary is a double-agent, paradoxically undermining Ingrid out of a fear of losing her.
The titular Spider Woman represents the ultimate conflict of the film, demanding the sacrifice of a loved one in exchange for the promise of a happy ending. Of course, since this is an Old Hollywood film and therefore riddled with cliches, the promise of a better world is none other than love.
Puig’s major feat with this story is in this parallel. Molina’s fantasy simplifies the cause of revolution without taking away any of the gravity. Arregui’s struggle for a more just Argentina is one rooted in a lifetime of oppression, but his pursuit of that dream is as idealistic and straightforward as a leading man in a ‘50s musical. Luna’s performance as Arregui walks that line beautifully. In “real-world” scenes, Arregui is initially standoffish but softens as he begins to recognize in his cellmate a passion like his own. In the fantasy he’s charming and free to speak openly about his dream for a better life. The photographer’s first song has him excitedly musing about being an “everyday man” with an “everyday life.”
Molina’s role is almost the opposite. In the real world, he’s outgoing, charismatic, and talkative. In the fantasy, he casts himself as a more sinister presence, a nearly silent character who spends his time observing his boss and her lover in preparation of his eventual betrayal. He’s torn between the pursuit of a better world and the maintenance of a status quo that only barely works for him.
As the only character without a real-world parallel, Ingrid’s fate seems pre-determined in a way the other characters’ do not. Though she’s the lead, Molina applies no obvious poetic license to her role as she moves through the film. She’s both striving for a better world like the other characters, and herself a representation of the better world the other characters strive for.
Lopez’s performance as Ingrid is stunning. She sings and dances with abandon. She’s fiery and self-assured, taking commanding control of enormous dancehalls in her best scenes. As needed, she comfortably dips into melodrama, her onscreen chemistry with Luna selling the fantasy’s more sombre moments.
Director Bill Condon weaves fantasy and reality effortlessly. In the prison, Condon centres Arregui and Molina, highlighting their growing affection. In the fantasy, Condon captures dozens of dancers in jaw-dropping practical sets, holding on to his lead actors as they show off Christopher Scott’s amazing choreography. Condon pays homage to Old Hollywood classics like Singin’ in the Rain, smartly drawing on those films’ emphasis on impressive physical performances.
Kiss of the Spider Woman perfectly captures the magic of a bygone era, redirecting that passion into a story about an unshakable pursuit of a better world.
Thank you to Star PR and Mongrel Media for the screener.
