Kiss of the Spider Woman

Set in a Latin American prison during a military dictatorship, this film explores the relationship that develops between two cellmates: a left wing journalist (Raul Julia) and a homosexual window dresser (William Hurt). To entertain his cellmate during the monotony and horror of prison life, the latter recreates stories from his favourite 1940’s movies. Based on the novel by Manuel Puig, the film features William Hurt’s Oscar winning performance.

How to watch

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

producer

David Weisman

production company

HB Filmes

Sugarloaf

director

Hector Babenco

Duration

01:59:00:00

Production places

United States

Production dates

1985

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

324826

Language

English

Audience classification

MA

Subject categories

Adaptations

Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers

Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Prison films

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Gay and lesbian studies

Feature films

Feature films → Feature films - United States

Literature → Latin American literature - Film and video adaptations

Literature → Literature

People → Romero, Oscar A.(Oscar Arnulfo), 1917-1980

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Wikidata

Q1215865

TMDB-Movie

11703

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Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/80789--kiss-of-the-spider-woman/ |title=Kiss of the Spider Woman |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=9 February 2023 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

United States, 1985