Hector Babenco's Kiss of the arachnid Woman and Carandiru

Kiss of the arachnid Woman is Manuel Puig's fourth and best-known novel. It was first published in Spanish in 1976 as El beso de la mujer arana, then converted and released in English in 1979. Puig became most popularly renowned to the English-speaking public for the critically acclaimed 1985 computer display adaptation of Kiss of the arachnid Woman, starring William Hurt, Raul Julia, and Sonia Braga.

Kiss of the arachnid Woman focuses on two characters: Valentin, a Marxist revolutionary, and Molina, a homosexual window-dresser, who share a jail cell for six months. Molina passes the time by telling Valentin the stories of his very popular videos in great detail. Valentin at first reluctantly listens to Molina's narration of these tales of melodramatic romance, admonishing Molina for indulging in escapist fantasies rather than in political activism. But Valentin finally becomes enthralled with the stories, as he becomes strongly felt drawn to Molina. Molina, meantime, has furtively acquiesced to extract information from Valentin in alignment to overtake it on to the jail authorities. Over the course of their confinement, however, the two men drop in love and finally become lovers. Upon his issue from jail, Molina acquiesces to help Valentin in his political cause by transient on important data to his fellow revolutionaries.

Kiss of the Spider Woman focuses on the topic of the confrontation between individual strong feelings, connections, and yearns vs. political idealism and activism. Valentin starts as a revolutionary who disregards delight and romance, while Molina starts as a man obsessed with the escapist fantasies provided by movies. As a result of their interactions, however, the two men transform one another, Valentin eventually succumbing to his emotional and personal desire for Molina, and Molina acquiescing to sacrifice himself for Valentin's political cause. Puig's innovative also uses experimental narrative methods in its use of dialogue and fragmentary data, such as notes and prison accounts, as well as in the extensive use of footnotes, which present a consideration of the psychological publications on homosexuality all through the novel. Kiss of the arachnid Woman is furthermore characteristic of Puig's fiction in its extensive quotation to classic movies and its profound effect on the lives of his characters as a means of escapist fantasy.

   Molina teases Valentin about his girlfriend Marta. As sound of tortured prisoners echo all through the prison, Molina notifies Valentin how, as a progeny, he expended hours watching videos at the localized videos where his mother worked as an usherette. He confides in Valentin about his passion for movies, especially his love of the attractive movie celebrity Aurora. He admired every video she made except one, where she played the arachnid Woman, a figure of death. Molina accepts as true the arachnid Woman is real and assertions that he has glimpsed her in the prison. Valentin calls him a fool. Yet, getting away into these invented, glorious movies assists Molina cope with the cruelty and terror surrounding him (Where You Are).

Carandiru (2003) is a ...