Kiss of the Spider Woman

What a curiously tactile experience. What a strange film. The problem is, I find South American politics so preternaturally stupefying that I quickly lose interest in who is doing what to whom and why. Maybe the politics are so opaque that any story that deals with them is bound to be opaque also. Having said that, I must state that I know that an affinity for politics is hardly a requirement for liking this film; it is not, after all, about politics. Hector Babenco does a nice job of creating the environment of the fetid prison in which this pas de deux takes place. And the performers (William Hurt and Raul Julia) are (unsurprisingly) exceptional. But I had the feeling, watching it, that it started nowhere and ended up in the same place. It was not just that the story is poorly elucidated (this is not a plot-lover's dream) but, quite frankly, despite the fact that this is a picture about two people, I wind up with depressingly little insight into what makes them tick. There are moments of extraordinary clarity, but for the most part the two performers ham it up in their cell, as if virtuoso acting (and it IS virtuoso) were a substitute for understanding. Basically, if it weren't for the performances, there would be no good reason to see the film, though, to be fair, Babenco does a fine job of opening up the drama in what would appear to be a forbiddingly restrictive environment. What does it boil down to? Lessons in Acting.