KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

Director: Bill Condon
Starring: Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, Jennifer Lopez, Bruno Bichir, Josefina Scaglione, Aline Mayagoitia, Driton “Tony” Dovolani

Manuel Puig’s novel “Kiss of the Spider Woman” has previously been adapted for the screen and as an award-winning stage musical. Now writer/director Bill Condon has turned the musical into a movie musical with a trio of strong performances. It’s 1983 in Argentina and a military dictatorship is going after its opponents. From the very beginning, you can already tell how timely this story feels to modern day political opposition. Newcomer Tonatiuh plays Luis Molina, a window dresser who is jailed and serving eight years for public indecency. That is coded language for being gay in public. He shares a cell with Diego Luna’s character, Valetin, who is spending time for being a Marxist revolutionary. Molina details to Valetin how he escapes to the movies away for the horrors of real life. His favorite movie is Kiss of the Spider Woman starring Ingrid Luna (Lopez) playing the lead character of Aurora. We then see the movie play out as Molina describes it to Valentin. At first glance, Molina and Valentin are polar opposites but their time together leads to an unexpected friendship and allyship between the two. In theaters

Here’s my review

Here’ my interview with Bill Condon and Tonatiuh