Raul Julia and William Hurt play Valentin Arregui and Luis Molina, cell-mates in a South American jail. Valentin is a political prisoner trying to keep his sanity, and Luis is a gay man with fantasies of Nazis and their beautiful women. These two men are opposites in virtually every way, but are forced to grow to respect each other. Sonia Braga plays the woman in both men's fantasies: the "Spider Woman" and the Nazi's lover.

That's the plot, but the movie is really a metaphor for any dictatorship. Obviously, any totalitarian state will imprison political opponents, and from what I know, most tyrants choose to lock up homosexuals. Valentin even tries to make the pro-fascist Luis understand what the Nazis did to gays. Regardless of how the two men eventually view each other, it remains a really good movie.

"Kiss of the Spider Woman" was originally a novel and then a Broadway play--and it's pretty easy to imagine this. That's because almost everything takes place in a prison cell occupied by two men. Up until late in the film, the only times it's not set there is when either of the men is taken out to be questioned by authorities or when the transgender prisoner (William Hurt) tells tales--an adventure story involving spies, the Nazis and a gorgeous lady as well as a later tale about a Spider Woman.

All of this sounds like a rather dreadful idea for a film or play as it's a prison film involving torture, illness and the like, but it manages to work due to good acting by Hurt and Raul Julia (his cell-mate) as well as some interesting plot twists. However, the very overtly gay plot is sure to upset or turn off many viewers and this film certainly is NOT for everyone regardless of the strong gay elements. After all, this IS set in an oppressive South American prison where torture and the like are commonplace.

By the way, although William Hurt was excellent and received the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance, it is odd that he doesn't seem the least bit like a Latino....not the least.

Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cell mates in a South American prison. Luis, a trans individual, is found guilty of immoral behavior and Valentin is a political prisoner. To escape reality Luis invents romantic movies, while Valentin tries to keep his mind on the situation he's in. During the time they spend together, the two men come to understand and respect one another.

William Hurt won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for Best Picture (the first independent film to do so -- it lost to "Out of Africa"),Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Hurt also won Best Actor at the BAFTA Awards, the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and several other festivals. The film was awarded the inaugural Golden Space Needle award from the Seattle International Film Festival.

William Hurt is incredible, but so is Raul Julia. It seems he is today (2015) best remembered for playing Gomez Addams, but he was so much more than that.