Kiss of the Spider Woman:
This adaptation features an Oscar-winning performance by William Hurt as a gay man named Luis Malina, who shares a cell with political activist Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia) in a Brazilian prison. To pass the time, Luis describes a German movie he loves in great detail, and he even nurses Valentin back to health when he is poisoned. However, Luis is trying to get information out of his fellow inmate in order to secure an early release. But Luis falls in love with the man. In the meantime, Valentin learns to trust him, which creates a problem for Luis: whether to aid his new friend or betray him.
The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Hector Babenco), Best
Actor (Hurt), and Best
Adapted Screenplay. With the film's only win, Hurt does give a good performance, but Julia deserved a nomination as well.
The Prince of Tides:
When his sister attempts suicide again, southerner Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) visits New York City to meet with her psychiatrist, Dr. Lowenstein (Barbara Streisand). Together, they try to discover the root of his sister's depression, and their relationship becomes both personal and professional in the process. Both have troublesome marriages and both turn to each other for a brief period of happiness away from their disappointing lives. Though the film feels slightly dated, the performances and the score are above par for this kind of material.
The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best
Actor, Best Supporting Actress (Kate Nelligan), Best
Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. Although the film did not win anything, the 7 nominations it received were, arguably, reward enough.
I actually LOVE Kiss of the Spiderwoman...but I kind of loathe that weepy Streisand soap opera and would have much prefered that Nolte get nominated for his superior work in Cape Fear that very same year :-D
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Cape Fear in probably a decade. I should rewatch it, because I'd nominate Nolte for Tides over Fear right now.
DeleteI think the second one was briefly mentioned in The Sopranos, never seen it though. The Kiss of the Spiderwoman sounds really interesting, definetly adding it to my watchlist.
ReplyDeleteKiss of the Spider Woman is the better film. Hope you like it.
DeleteKiss of the Spider Woman sounds as intriguing as the title. Hard to live up to a title THAT sensational :D Not a big fan of Barbs I'm afraid, so I don't think I'll muster up enough interest to see Prince of Tides.
ReplyDeleteHaha. I only saw The Prince of Tides because it was a Best Picture nominee at the Oscars.
DeleteAh I see :) Btw, since you've got a photo of Mr. Jack Lemmon on your sidebar, stay tuned for the third and final post of the 3-part series on the legendary actor, courtesy of my classic contributor Jack Deth :)
DeleteCan't wait to read that. :)
DeleteI saw both these movies many years ago.
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking Kiss of the Spider Woman was magnificent and probably my favorite William Hurt role ever.
The Prince of Tides was O.K. The novel was better. :)
Really? I think Hurt is better in Children of a Lesser God and The Big Chill, but I liked his performance in this.
DeleteThe Prince of Tides is basically a TV movie of the week with some prestige, so I'm not surprised that the novel is better. :)
I remember liking him better in Kiss of the Spider Woman than in Children of a Lesser God or The Big Chill. But to be honest, it's difficult for me to back up that opinion with any confidence, because I haven't seen any of those movies in about 25 years. ;-)
DeleteHaha, fair enough. :)
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