{"id":651044,"date":"2025-01-27T07:40:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T04:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/kiss-of-the-spider-woman-review-bill-condons-uneven-adaptation-of-the-kander-and-ebb-musical-shines-brightest-in-jennifer-lopezs-dazzling-star-turn\/"},"modified":"2025-01-27T07:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T04:40:16","slug":"kiss-of-the-spider-woman-review-bill-condons-uneven-adaptation-of-the-kander-and-ebb-musical-shines-brightest-in-jennifer-lopezs-dazzling-star-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/kiss-of-the-spider-woman-review-bill-condons-uneven-adaptation-of-the-kander-and-ebb-musical-shines-brightest-in-jennifer-lopezs-dazzling-star-turn\/","title":{"rendered":"#\u2018Kiss of the Spider Woman\u2019 Review: Bill Condon\u2019s Uneven Adaptation of the Kander and Ebb Musical Shines Brightest in Jennifer Lopez\u2019s Dazzling Star Turn"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2d21ee608df\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2d21ee608df\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/kiss-of-the-spider-woman-review-bill-condons-uneven-adaptation-of-the-kander-and-ebb-musical-shines-brightest-in-jennifer-lopezs-dazzling-star-turn\/#Kiss_of_the_Spider_Woman\" >Kiss of the Spider Woman<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tA touching dedication at the end of <em>Kiss of the Spider Woman<\/em> reads simply: \u201cFor Fred, Terrence and Chita.\u201d That would be lyricist Fred Ebb, playwright Terrence McNally and original star Chita Rivera, key figures behind the 1993 Broadway musical, alongside composer John Kander and stage director Harold Prince. The show won six top Tony Awards and ran for just over a year, though critics and audiences were divided, and it\u2019s mostly considered a second-tier musical by the standards of Kander and Ebb, the celebrated team behind <em>Cabaret<\/em> and <em>Chicago<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tBill Condon sets himself a tough assignment trying to transform the tricky material into a great movie musical, but thanks in part to laudable work from his three leads, he occasionally comes close. The writer-director revisits an idea that worked well in his screenplay for 2002\u2019s <em>Chicago<\/em> \u2014 paralleling squalor and splendor, with central characters stuck in grim reality seeking escape through Golden Age Hollywood musical fantasy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"review-summary-card\">\n<div class=\" lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-a-125 u-background-color-honey-light \">\n<div class=\"lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column u-width-275@tablet u-border-b-1@mobile-max u-border-r-1@tablet u-border-dotted lrv-u-margin-r-150 lrv-u-padding-r-150 lrv-u-margin-r-00@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-r-00@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-b-125@mobile-max lrv-u-margin-b-075@mobile-max\">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  lrv-u-font-family-primary u-font-size-34 u-font-size-38@desktop-xl lrv-u-line-height-small lrv-u-margin-b-125 \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Kiss_of_the_Spider_Woman\"><\/span>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tKiss of the Spider Woman\t\t<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-font-family-accent lrv-u-font-weight-bold lrv-u-color-brand-primary lrv-u-font-size-16 lrv-u-display-block\">The Bottom Line<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-span  u-font-size-22@tablet u-font-style-italic lrv-u-font-family-secondary\"><\/p>\n<p>\tEntertaining, even if it soars only intermittently.<br \/>\n\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Venue<\/strong>: Sundance Film Festival (Premieres)<br \/><strong>Cast<\/strong>:<strong> <\/strong>Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, Jennifer Lopez, Bruno Bichir, Josefina Scaglione, Aline Mayagoitia, Tony Dovolani<br \/><strong>Director-screenwriter<\/strong>: Bill Condon, based on the stage musical<br \/><span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2 hours 8 minutes\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn the stage show, set in Argentina in 1983, political prisoner Valent\u00edn Arregui is transferred to a cell already occupied by Luis Molina, a gay window dresser convicted on trumped up charges of public indecency. In Hector Babenco\u2019s 1985 film, which won William Hurt a best actor Oscar as Molina, and in the Manuel Puig novel on which it was based, the two prisoners are already cellmates when the story begins.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tCondon\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a> makes the small, seemingly cosmetic change of having Molina (Tonatiuh) moved into the cell occupied by Valent\u00edn (Diego Luna), under instruction by the prison warden (Bruno Bichir) to extract information from the leftist revolutionary, part of a group of rebels attempting to overthrow the military dictatorship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThat simple switch means the fantasist is now thrust into the domain of the hardline ideologue, and not vice versa. While Valent\u00edn initially is hostile to his new cellmate, wanting only to read and think, not talk, Molina now has the function of bringing a feminine softness, light and warmth into the harsh environment. That lays subtle foundations for a developing relationship between the polar opposites that is less transactional and more grounded in genuine feeling. It puts the emphasis on this being a love story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tBut getting there can be a bumpy ride. As compelling as Luna and Tonatiuh are in the roles, their scenes at times feel flat and stagy, only gradually gathering force once Valent\u00edn accepts Molina\u2019s friendship, and even more so, when Molina nurses him back to health after he\u2019s been tortured and beaten by prison guards to within an inch of his life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThankfully, they get to bust out of prison at frequent intervals in the movie within the movie, which is where Condon\u2019s flair for musical showmanship pays off. Molina is obsessively devoted to glamorous screen star Ingrid Luna, known simply as \u201cLuna\u201d to her adoring public \u2014 more likely a dwindling few who remember her. Unlike in the stage show, where Molina skipped from one of her star vehicles to the next, here he\u2019s fixated on just one of Luna\u2019s films, the musical <em>Kiss of the Spider Woman<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWeaving an entire narrative around that title, Condon enhances the metafictional aspects already present in the novel. He makes those campy escapist interludes the throbbing heart of the film, bursting with Technicolor vitality and splashy production numbers and big, bold feelings. It also allows the writer-director to mirror the plotlines between reality and fantasy more closely, if at times a tad forcibly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThose scenes give Jennifer Lopez one of the best roles of her career as Luna, putting her singing and dancing bona fides to excellent use. She looks sensational in Colleen Atwood\u2019s stunning costumes, and the verve she brings to her songs lifts the entire movie. It\u2019s a part that calls for a larger-than-life presence, and Lopez supplies it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAt first, Valent\u00edn shows no interest in Molina\u2019s frippery, but once he gets started on his detailed narration of the loopy movie plot, the political prisoner begins eagerly requesting further installments. In the movie, Luna plays Aurora, a fashion editor for a glossy Latin American magazine, while Molina puts himself in the story as her fawning, gay-coded assistant, Kendall. In an amusing aside, Molina tells Valent\u00edn that the actor playing Kendall butched it up so much that he killed the humor. But it\u2019s Molina\u2019s retelling, so he can take whatever poetic license he wants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAurora is professionally accomplished but unattached, unable to commit to a man. That seems likely to change when she meets dashing Armando, a photographer who suggests they go up north to shoot the winter issue among the real people. \u00a0He\u2019s played by Valent\u00edn in Molina\u2019s version, with a pencil mustache instead of prison stubble.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tComplications ensue when a younger rival for Armando\u2019s affections, Paolina (Aline Mayagoitia), appears at a ritzy nightclub \u2014 sure, it\u2019s a humble village of \u201creal people,\u201d but it\u2019s a movie musical, so they still need cocktails, evening wear and a live band, duh, and you should see their carnival outfits. Also creating friction is the club\u2019s gangster owner Johnny (Tony Dovolani), who takes a liking to Aurora after they burn up the floor in a sizzling dance. \u201cNo matter how hard Hollywood tried to make her all-American, she remained Latina,\u201d swoons Molina, who admits he would love to be a woman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe bigger threat to Aurora and Armando finding happiness becomes clear when they learn of the mythical Spider Woman, a predator who demands once a year that a woman from the village sacrifice the man she loves, on whom she plants her deadly kiss. Naturally, Lopez doubles as the Spider Woman in the movie, giving a nod to Rivera and perhaps also to Sonia Braga in the Babenco film, while molding the role to fit her own persona. Slinky and sensual in a glittering black and silver outfit that drips lacy webbing, she looks like an arachnid Louise Brooks with her spiky bob. The effect is spectacular.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAs that scenario plays out in a melodramatic crescendo, the stakes in the prison are raised, too, when the warden starts tightening the screws. Diego Luna and Tonatiuh play the escalation of feeling between Valent\u00edn and Molina \u2014 love, desire, guilt \u2014 with searing poignancy. But it\u2019s in this final stretch that the back-and-forth becomes labored and convoluted, muting the impact of the tragic closing scenes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tStill, even in this imperfect version of a flawed show, there\u2019s plenty to savor. Luna, always a charismatic actor, fills Valent\u00edn with fire and anger and disgust in the beginning, then channels all that passion into tenderness. In a head-turning breakout performance, Tonatiuh (seen recently in <em>Carry-On<\/em>) can flip from proud to humiliated, self-dramatizing to selfless, often within a single line reading. We see the conflict of a man thirsting for freedom but deeply torn about gaining it via betrayal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tEven if some of Valent\u00edn\u2019s more progressive, anti-macho attitudes seem tailored to contemporary sensibilities, there are lovely moments in which he sternly tells Molina to stop with the self-mockery. Reflecting the hand of McNally in the material, the musical was always groundbreaking in its multidimensional depiction of an unapologetically gay man, not a caricature but a person with humor and dignity. The care and understanding fostered between Molina and Valent\u00edn feed directly into the movie\u2019s views on gender, sexuality and masculinity, most of which can be traced back to the novel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMusical theater completists might blanch at the number of songs Condon has jettisoned, though he includes most of the key numbers from the show along with others that were written for it but cut during development. Few of the songs are essential in terms of advancing the plot, but they provide wry commentary and riotous color. Unlike many musicals that are cut so frenetically you can barely see what the dancers\u2019 legs are doing, editor Brian A. Cates lets the numbers breathe and DP Tobias Schliessler\u2019s wide angles allow us to appreciate the vigor and sexiness of Broadway veteran Sergio Trujillo\u2019s choreography.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe ideally cast Lopez is the movie\u2019s highlight, perhaps inevitably with such a scene-stealing role, while Luna does an impressive job keeping up with her in the dance numbers. His dynamic Latin lover moves make up for a pleasant but thin singing voice, unlike Tonatiuh, whose confident vocals are full-bodied and rich in feeling. And no knock on Hurt\u2019s performance (opposite the sublime Raul Julia as Valent\u00edn), but it\u2019s gratifying to see an out queer actor cast in a milestone role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhether this was a musical that cried out for big-screen treatment is open to debate, and some might say it adds little to the story that wasn\u2019t conveyed in the previous screen version. But it\u2019s a fine showcase for three magnetic performers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-reviews\/kiss-of-the-spider-woman-review-jennifer-lopez-diego-luna-tonatiuh-bill-condon-1236118593\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A touching dedication at the end of Kiss of the Spider Woman reads simply: \u201cFor Fred, Terrence and Chita.\u201d That would be lyricist Fred Ebb, playwright Terrence McNally and original star Chita Rivera, key figures behind the 1993 Broadway musical, alongside composer John Kander and stage director Harold Prince. The show won six top Tony&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":651045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Kiss_of_the_Spider_Woman-Still_1-H-2025.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[111348,28429,19935,153915,153916,29332,153851,138577,29333,153917],"class_list":["post-651044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-bill-condon","tag-diego-luna","tag-jennifer-lopez","tag-john-kander","tag-kiss-of-the-spider-woman","tag-sundance","tag-sundance-2025","tag-sundance-film-festival-reviews","tag-sundance-film-festival","tag-tonatiuh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}