Luis Molina (William Hurt) and Valentin Arregui (Raúl Juliá) are cell mates in a Latin American prison. Luis is an effeminate gay found guilty of immoral behaviour and imprisoned for seducing a minor. Valentin is a straight, bearded, revolutionary political activist prisoner. Most of the time Molina tells him stories about tacky Hollywood movies, especially his fondly remembered Nazi propaganda film "Her Real Glory", which Valentin detests. The stories are meant to comfort Arregui and distract him from his imprisonment and separation from the woman he loves. It becomes clear that Arregui is being poisoned by his jailers to force him to reveal what he knows. And Molina is in his cell to obtain information for his captors. A friendship develops between the two prisoners and eventually they have sex, which begins discreetly with the blowing out of a candle. The ending is tragic for both, although Arregui's end is softened with a lovely fantasy scene reminiscent of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" ("La Rivière du Hibou").
Both acting performances are superb, and Hurt won a well-deserved Oscar. There is a movie within the movie starring Sonia Braga. The film is an adaptation of Manuel Puig's highly regarded 1976 novel "El Beso de la Mujer Araña". A Broadway musical "Kiss of the Spider Woman" was produced in 1993. Original music is by Nando Cordeiro and John Neschling. Leonard Schrader wrote the screenplay from Puig's novel, and Hector Babenco directed. This Brazilian/American drama is in English, and the Portuguese title is "O Beijo da Mulher Aranha".
