‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’: Jennifer Lopez Casts a Seductive Web in Bill Condon’s Sensuous Update of Tony-Winning Musical of Resistance 

Alci Rengifo

Art can be a matter of both survival and resistance. That understanding gives a timeless relevance to the “Kiss of the Spider Woman” novel by Argentine author Manuel Puig, who first published it in 1976 when his country was ruled by a fascist military regime. It was first adapted into an acclaimed film by Héctor Babenco in 1985 starring Raul Julia and William Hurt, eventually winning Hurt an Oscar. Babenco easily transferred the story to Brazil, which had just come out of its own U.S.-backed military dictatorship. Now Bill Condon delivers a fresh “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” adapted from the Tony-winning musical version by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Terrence McNally. Expectedly colorful and now driven by lively songs, this story again proves its lasting relevance. 

The basics of the story remain intact, now returned to its original setting of Argentina in the time of the junta. Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), a gay window dresser arrested for public indecency, arrives at a grimy prison to share a cell with Valentín Arregui (Diego Luna), a political prisoner. While Valentin quotes Lenin and reads political theory to conjure new articles, Luis obsesses over the glamorous movie stars he adores and whose posters grace his corner of the cell. To try and mentally escape from their situation, Luis begins narrating to Valentín the plot of a film starring his favorite star, Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez). Here the film switches to the Technicolor world in Luis’ imagination, where Ingrid plays a magazine editor, Aurora, caught in the intrigues of a dashing photographer named Armando (Luna) and gangsters in a rural town. Luis has of course inserted himself into the tale as Aurora’s assistant, Kendall. But in the real world, Luis is also under pressure from the prison warden (Bruno Bichir) to extract information from his revolutionary new friend.

With the popular idea of musicals dominated these days by mass hits like “Wicked,” it’s easy to forget that the original “Kiss of the Spider Woman” show by playwright Terrence McNally, lyricist Fred Ebb, composer John Kander and stage director Harold Prince took 7 Tony Awards and ran for two years. Granted, it does live under the shadow of Kander and Ebb’s great classics “Chicago” and “Cabaret.” To turn it into cinema there was no better choice than Bill Condon, who wrote the 2002 screen version of “Chicago” and directed the dazzling “Dreamgirls.” He even has a Disney spectacle under his belt with the 2017 live action remake of “Beauty and the Beast.” The filmmaker approaches this material with a genuine love for it, letting the story shine above the typical bombast of many musicals. “It’s a musical that was really groundbreaking for its time,” is how Condon described the appeal of the material to Entertainment Voice, “the original Broadway audience was then still prosperous people who could afford those tickets. There was a slightly conservative bent but this musical is very bold.”

This is indeed a fascinating musical in how narrative really does overtake the songs, which are not necessarily designed to tattoo themselves in your mind like an Andrew Lloyd Webber production. Condon’s screenplay also changes the structure. While the stage version stays close to Puig’s novel in having Luis imagine different scenarios involving Aurora, the movie, like Babenco’s adaptation, flows between the prison and one ongoing fantasy. These are lively scenes where Condon gets to indulge in bright colored framing while evoking Latin melodramas. Lopez, always a true star, looks like old Hollywood royalty while crooning a number like “I Will Dance Alone,” switching wardrobe and dancing with Luna under artificial sunsets. Tony Dovolani is a natural fit for his role of mafia club owner Johnny. There is also a heated love triangle involving Paolina (Aline Mayagoitia), a younger rival for the love of the photographer Armando. Cinematographer Tobias Schliessler shoots these sections with the wide eye of classic musicals, avoiding frenetic close-ups and allowing Broadway veteran choreographer Sergio Trujillo’s steps to dominate the shots. 

Depending on your tastes, the prison moments, shot in a grittier hand held style, might prove more involving than the movie fantasy where the Spider Woman of the title (also played by Lopez with sensuous darkness) eventually appears as a mystical legend who demands a male sacrifice from local villagers. The evolving relationship between Luis and Valentín doubles as a layered social commentary. Luis wants to remind the tough radical that there’s more to life and revolution than cold political theory or blind idealism. Valentín professes sincere progressive values but his own latent machismo is challenged by Luis’ efforts to bring a feminine touch to their space. The revolutionary tells his gay cellmate to not allow himself to be degraded by the government or anyone else because he is a man, but is taken aback when Luis confesses he would prefer to be a woman. While it is difficult to top the power of the Raul Julia and William Hurt duo in the Babenco film, Luna and Tonatiuh have an endearing bond that gradually becomes a unique romance as they endure poisonings, interrogations and personal insecurities. 

“The reminder that things always change and you can come out through the other side is important,” said Condon, “these two characters, who as with what we’re going through in our country today and in the world, come into it almost hating each other and because they are forced to deal with each other, they grow to see each other as individuals through kindness.” The juntas that ruled South America are gone (though Argentina today is ruled by a right-wing populist) but new fascists are targeting the vulnerable and demonizing leftists as well as the LGBTQ community everywhere. Masculinity is being waved as a banner to disguise authoritarian policies and ideas. In such an atmosphere, an entertaining musical like “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is almost its own form of pop resistance. You get more out of it than just the webbing of its glistening ensemble.

“Kiss of the Spider Woman” releases Oct. 10 in theaters nationwide.