Kiss of the Spider Woman (Hector Babenco, 1985) contains a memorable intertextuality between fiction and reality, revolution and love. The film takes a Latin American prison in the 1980s as the main scene. Morina (William Hurt), a gay man who was arrested for molesting a juvenile, slowly walks to another political prisoner in the cell, Valentin (Raul Julia) Recalling a "non-existent" love fragment Plot: During World War II, the French singer (Sonia Brage) fell in love with the handsome Nazi German commander, and was willing to bear the stigma of "traitor" and the guerrilla intent to recapture her homeland Team confrontation, and finally died under the enemy's guns. In this fictional story, the "heroic revolution" that the French continued to carry out to resist the brutal fascist rule was seriously distorted by the Nazi propaganda department. The rebel soldiers mostly showed their ugly and treacherous faces. On the contrary, the Nazi officials who represented the provisional government looked like Handsome and wise, he even packaged Nazi Germany's rhetoric as a righteous teacher who saved the world from fire and water, and spared no effort to slander the actions of the French guerrillas with "shameful atrocities".
The "fragment" in the narrator's mouth is undoubtedly a cultural product that played a role in maintaining stability in the repressive climate of the time. However, in the reality of the 1980s (the prison cell in the film), the political environment in Latin America is still harsh, dictatorship. The contradictions between the government and the people have never ceased one after another, because they were arrested for secretly engaging in movements and revolutions, and they were even tortured to extort confessions to the point of death. It is generally characterized as an "evil deed" that subverts the state. As the story progresses, the fate of Morina and Valentine develops towards an ending similar to that of a Nazi love movie, and the slight differences in the characters' identities and situations also make the boundaries between the two (fiction and reality) more confusing. Elusive. The beautiful French showgirl was replaced by Molina, who was also a beautiful man, and the Nazi officer who symbolized the center of power became Valentin, a civil rights activist who resisted the unjust government. In "The Fragment", the singer committed treason for love and even gave her life. If you ignore the evil of the Nazis for a while, the singer's "counter-revolutionary" behavior is based on a sincere feeling. The sublime spirit of "throwing" may be exactly what the creator tried to sing and praise. In reality, Morina gradually fell in love with each other in the prison life in the same room with Valentine, and then was coerced and lured by the secret police, obtained information from Valentine, and acted as a pawn to capture the underground organization. At the end of the story, despite the panic, Morina still chose to participate in the political movement she once hated, and finally responded to the man she loved in prison with a generous sacrifice.
The Brazilian director Hector Babenco used the limited space of the secret room to portray the two male protagonists, and the wonderful double dialogue was due to the excellent photography. While Morina was infatuated with the Nazi love story, Valentine was dissatisfied with the political ideology expressed in the story, so the two had an argument. Valentin insists on pointing fingers at the social and political stances of the fragment, while Molina only cares about the appearance and love of the male and female protagonists in the film. The discussion about the "fragment" reflects the differences in their identities and personalities. Moriana speaks more elegantly than an intellectual woman, and has a gentle and considerate personality; because of his long-term involvement in social movements, Valentine's appearance is masculine, full of masculinity, revolutionary Strong-willed, always ready to give his precious life for the country or ideal. Initially, the disregard for the "children's affair" caused a gap in the communication between Valentine and Molina. However, as time went on, in order to show Valentine's psychological change, the filming method changed from the two being separated from each other. The narrowed "viewing angle" (high windows, door gaps) to peep at what's happening outside the prison, and can only watch one after another revolutionary colleague being arrested, some even beaten to death, but he still sits out of sight. In the prison of the sun, waiting for the torture that I don't know when it will come. The cell where enthusiasm was suppressed was severely weakened, and Valentine's heart gradually exposed the weak and powerless side. Morina's carefulness and gentleness finally let Valentine's heart be relieved. The most determined revolutionary is just an ordinary person who also has a woman he likes and is equally afraid of death. "Kiss of the Spider Woman" makes the characters more rich and sensible by using the dialogues of punchlines. It not only has the noble sentiment of striving for ideals, but also lacks human weakness such as timidity and selfishness. It can be said that it is very tense to watch it now.
The difficult situation of homosexuals in Latin America made Morina discriminated against by the public. He lost his senses and committed crimes for a while, and his beloved mother was waiting for him at home. Facing the setbacks in life, Morina chose to immerse herself in the fantasy world constructed by herself in order to escape the cruel reality. He is gentle and considerate, and treats people with sincerity, but in Valentine's original impression, he is an out-and-out "weak", knowing that injustice is ravaging the country and society, including his own predicament, but he continues to To evade concessions, just use the uninterrupted love story to self-anesthetize and ease the cold pain of life. The estrangement between the two turned into a fierce quarrel, and the reason was that Valentine couldn't bear Morina's cowardice and his own impotence. After the storm, there is a long-lost peace. The two understand and tolerate each other. Valentine gradually understands the way of survival of same-sex roommates. Isn’t it a way to relieve pain and re-energize by simply enjoying a love story? Morina didn't have the potential to become a brave revolutionary fighter, but his gentleness and caring were the most powerful weapons when dealing with people. Valentine was deeply moved by his meticulous care and began to appreciate the sight in front of him. A slender, sensitive, and a little self-indulgent handsome man.
The second story Morina tells Valentine is about "Spider Woman's Tears": a graceful and graceful Spider Woman (Sonia Brage) who finds a shipwrecked man on the edge of a beach, taking good care of her. After saving his life. When he wakes up, staring at Spider-Woman, he sees a perfect teardrop sliding down her mask. (The director has clear requirements for the color of the screen, such as "Non-Existing Movie" is like a dim and old film negative, "Spider Woman's Tears" uses black and white tone) Why is Spider Woman called Spider Woman? Because she was shrouded in a huge spider web, and the web was constantly growing from her body. Molina compares herself to the poor Spider Woman. The various troubles and setbacks in life are like spider webs entwining beautiful women. Are the tears that fall out of pity for men? Crying for an impending goodbye? Or is it just Spider-Woman's mourning? "Why do you always seek explanations? Valentine, I'm so tired." There is no explanation, or it can be said that the tears contain all the emotions that Morina can have. In front of Valentine, he strives to show the most real The reason is very simple, because he (she) loves him.
The last scene of the film is very embarrassing. Valentine, who was tortured to extort a confession, was dying. After injecting morphine, he escaped to a beautiful island, and was boating on the lake with his beloved Marta (Sonia Brage). The color of the picture also changed from black to color. On the other hand, Morina, who was paroled, also chose to sacrifice herself to save the organization because of the failure of the action. Love can make people change. The unrequited Moriana can change from a timid "little woman" to a martyr who sacrificed for the revolution, and it can also make a strong and unyielding revolutionist hide in trivial fantasies. The director never believes that love can save the world. Facing the still brutal political reality and the dark society full of all kinds of injustices, only love cannot change anything. All we can do is to put this love for others in our hearts and the heart. Hard-won happiness is tightly grasped and not taken away, that's all.
"Only he himself knows whether he will die happy or sad."
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