History Literature / KissOfTheSpiderWoman

''Kiss of the Spider Woman'' was originally a 1976 novel by gay Argentinian writer Manuel Puig. It was later adapted into a film in 1985 and a musical in 1993. And a 1983 play. But that one isn't as well known.

* TranslationConvention: All dialogue is in English, while text and signage remains in Portuguese. This extends to the "film-within-a-film" segments, where all the French and German characters speak English.

* TranslationConvention: All dialogue is in English while text and signage remains in untranslated Portuguese. This extends to the "film-within-a-film" segments, where all the French and German characters speak English.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Both Creator/WilliamHurt and Creator/RaulJulia use their normal accents, which makes them stand out among the mostly-Brazilian cast.

* BananaRepublic: The country the story is set in (Argentina in the novel and musical, Brazil in the film) is a dictatorship that imprisons sexual minorities and “disappears” its political opposition. True to RealLife, in both cases.

* [[PlayingGertrude Playing Hamlet]]: It's never stated explicitly, but Molina is implied to be somewhat older than Valentin (the role was originally offered to 72-year old Creator/BurtLancaster). Creator/RaulJulia was ten years older than Creator/WilliamHurt.

Molina passes the time by describing his favorite movies: the most prominent ([[AdaptationDistillation and the only one featured in the film]]) being a romance story of star-crossed lovers... that also happens to be a Nazi propaganda film. Naturally, the FilmWithinAFilm is draped with metaphors and symbolism relating to the two characters. It is later revealed that Molina was imprisoned with Valentin to spy on him in the hope that he will open up to Molina, using the film as a way of getting him to talk. Just one problem: Molina has fallen in love with Valentin. Cue moral dilemmas, political statements and [[{{Gayngst}} gay angst]].

%%** [[spoiler:Molina himself.]]

Set in a BananaRepublic (Argentina in the novel and musical, Brazil in the film), the story follows the imprisonment of Luis Molina (Creator/WilliamHurt in the film), a [[{{Transvestite}} trans woman]] who was caught corrupting a minor, and political prisoner Valentin Arregui (Creator/RaulJulia in the film), who is part of a leftist revolutionary group trying to overthrow the military dictatorship and is currently being tortured for information.

Set in a BananaRepublic (Argentina in the novel and musical, Brazil in the film), the story follows the imprisonment of Luis Molina (Creator/WilliamHurt in the film), a trans woman who was caught corrupting a minor, and political prisoner Valentin Arregui (Creator/RaulJulia in the film), who is part of a leftist revolutionary group trying to overthrow the military dictatorship and is currently being tortured for information.

Set in a BananaRepublic (Argentina in the novel and musical, Brazil in the film), the story follows the imprisonment of Luis Molina (Creator/WilliamHurt in the film), a [[{{Transgender}} trans woman]] who was caught corrupting a minor, and political prisoner Valentin Arregui (Creator/RaulJulia in the film), who is part of a leftist revolutionary group trying to overthrow the military dictatorship and is currently being tortured for information.

* GenderFlip: Molina was a transgender woman in the book, but is a cisgender man now, [[AmbiguousSituation though there's still some dialogue that implies they identify as female.]]

* [[PlayingGertrude Playing Hamlet]]: It's never stated explicitly, but Molina is implied to be somewhat older than Valentin (the role was originally offered to '''Creator/BurtLancaster'''). Creator/RaulJulia was ten years older than Creator/WilliamHurt.