William Hurt Looks Back at 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' the Groundbreaking, Oscar-Winning Drama Turning 30 This Month
William Hurt in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’, which earned him an Oscar for Best Actor (Photo: Everett)
Pop quiz: what was the first independent film to be nominated for Best Picture? Here’s a hint — it’s not any of the usual suspects, like Pulp Fiction or The English Patient. Instead, the honor goes to Kiss of the Spider Woman, the 1985 art-house sensation that’s often overlooked when listing the formative films of contemporary indie cinema. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, the movie depicts the intense bond that forms between two men imprisoned in a Brazilian jail during the country’s three-decade military dictatorship: Political activist Valentin (Raul Julia) and gay movie fan Luis (William Hurt), who regales his cellmate with vivid descriptions of his favorite films. (The Spider Woman of the title, played by Sonia Braga, is one such cinematic creation.) Initially antagonistic, Valentin comes to respect and care for Luis, who in turn falls in love with the revolutionary, even as he’s being pressured into betraying him by the secret police.
At the time of its release, Spider Woman’s success — it grossed a then-astronomical $17 million during the course of its theatrical run, and received four Academy Award nominations — represented a notable breakthrough for both an independent film and an international co-production. The movie was adapted from Argentine author Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel and directed by Brazilian filmmaker Hector Babenco on location in Sao Paulo, Brazil. But the production was backed by an American producer, David Weisman; written by a leading American screenwriter, Leonard Schrader; and starred two of Hollywood’s most promising rising stars, Julia and Hurt, the latter of whom went on to win the Best Actor statue at the 1985 Oscars, beating A-list nominees like Harrison Ford in Witness and Jack Nicholson in Prizzi’s Honor. “I’m proud we did it,” the veteran actor tells Yahoo Movies in an emotional interview. “It’s hard to describe how grateful an artist would be to have an experience like that.”
Given the difficult subject matter and the lack of an established indie-film community in the early ‘80s, the experience was not without its challenges. As Weisman told Indiewire in a 2010 interview, he and Babenco spent years trying to raise the funds to make the film and lost various collaborators — including Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster, who originally intended to play Luis — along the way. The producer also recalls early cuts of the film as being problematic, forcing significant post-production work. (Even after its completion and release, the movie ran into trouble; a legal dispute about who owned the rights to the film kept it out of circulation for years, with Weisman finally regaining ownership in 2001.)
Hurt and Raul Julia in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ (Photo: Everett Collection)
When Kiss of the Spider Woman finally premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1985, though, the reaction proved universally positive. Scooped up by nascent distributor, Island Alive, the film arm of Island Records, and released domestically on July 26, the movie won instant acclaim from critics — as well as from the LGBT community — for Hurt’s sensitive portrayal of a man whose sexuality makes him a criminal in society’s eyes. The AIDS crisis and the still-widespread discrimination against gay men only made Kiss of the Spider Woman all the more timely and relevant. “We had to say something about not just gay rights, but about feminine and masculine relationships, and the nature of courage and what it means to speak truth to a power so much greater than you are,” Hurt says now. “We didn’t make any money while we were shooting, so there was no angling for gratuitous reward. This was just a glorious opportunity to do the right thing.”
Despite reports that he and Babenco clashed during production due to the language barrier, Hurt describes the shoot as being filled with “miracles [that] littered our entire experience.” One particular miracle that stands out in his mind occurred while he and Julia swung by the set to rehearse during what was supposed to be their day off. “The set was just this simple platform with breakaway walls in a warehouse-type location. I noticed a glint in a faraway corner and climbed off the platform to look more carefully. I saw one of the film’s constructions workers, who was amazed that these two American actors would take time out of their day to come to that warehouse and work so hard. He was standing there with tears rolling down his face and that was the glint I saw. He didn’t even speak our language. I thought, ‘Okay, I’m doing this for him.’”
While Hurt received the lion’s share of acclaim and awards for taking on what at the time was a risky role, Julia’s carefully modulated performance as Valentin is also essential to Spider Woman’s success. It was the role that launched the Puerto Rican-born stage actor to such high-profile films as Tequila Sunrise, Presumed Innocent and The Addams Family. Speaking of his co-star, who passed away in 1994 after suffering a stroke, Hurt says quietly, “I miss him. I miss a lot of people nowadays. It was way too early.” The two stayed friends in the years after Kiss of the Spider Woman, often calling each other to play chess over the phone from wherever in the world they happened to be shooting a film. “The rule was, ‘He who loses the last piece pays for the next phone call,’ ” chuckles Hurt. “Of course, he was a much better chess player than I was, so I was paying exorbitant rates! Then one day, he didn’t call, and that was the day he died.”
“I miss him,” says Hurt of Julia, who died in 1994. “I miss a lot of people nowadays. It was way too early” (Photo: Everett Collection)
In 2010, Cannes held a special screening of Kiss of the Spider Woman to mark its 25th anniversary, one that Hurt was unable to attend due to work commitments. “I think Hector was pretty pissed off with me,” he says, adding that he’s unaware of any plans to celebrate the movie’s 30th year. “I don’t know if they’ll call me if they do. But I hope they do. It’s one of the proudest things of my life.” Right now, Hurt is in the midst of re-entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in Captain America: Civil War, a role he originated in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. “I’m terrified to say anything about it without my lawyer here,” he jokes. “I’m happy to be part of it. The other Hulk was a different style of film than what they’re doing now, so I’m hoping I fit the bill. They have a big budget and big ideas.”
Kiss of the Spider Woman is available for rental and purchase on Amazon Instant and iTunes
