There can be no doubt that the Broadway musicals of John Kander and Fred Ebb were impressed when it came time to make adaptations of their films. Film version reinvented by Bob Fosse in 1972 nightclub He won 8 Oscars. Reinvention by director Rob Marshall and screenwriter Bill Condon chicago In 2002 it remains the last musical to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Both make the music format work, even for those who He hates Movie musicals, by incorporating songs so that they do not conflict with the narrative but fit seamlessly into it (ironically for Kander and Ebb this was 1977 creative A musical film directed by Martin Scorsese was less successful, as was its final theatrical incarnation). It's nice to announce that the stunning new film adaptation of their 1993 Tony Award-winning musical, spider woman kiss, joins nightclub and chicago As a master class in how to find the cinematic spirit of a Broadway musical while still doing it justice on screen 30 years later and in a very different time culturally since it came into the world.
In fact, this journey began with the novel by Argentine writer Manuel Puig in 1976, then the film version in 1985, which was nominated for Best Picture and won William Hurt the Oscar for Best Actor. With this 2025 screen incarnation of the Kander/Ebb show, director and screenwriter Bill Condon has returned to Puig's novel to fulfill its original purpose as a love story, now able to be told without the constraints, a key part of its emotional power and likability. Truth for contemporary audiences.
The story centers on a gay window designer named Luis Molina (distinguished newcomer Tonatiuh), who is arrested by the military-run Argentine government in 1983 on morality charges and thrown into a prison cell named after Marxist revolutionary Valentin Arregui Paz (Diego Luna) with the promise of leniency if he can extract… Some information I would like from him. To pass the time, Molina tells an initially skeptical Valentin the story of a musical starring Ingrid Luna, a huge star with whom he is obsessed. Over time, the film's story, and the love story within it, eventually merges with the harsh reality of Molina and Valentin's imprisonment, the artistic fantasy of a Hollywood musical transforms into a tortured political nightmare, and, most poignantly, a real human connection. Between these two men.
This may be the essence of what Condon is working with here, and in lesser hands it could be a risky proposition if the audience didn't have to buy both parts of it. To do this, Condon made a major change from the book and musical where Molina would essentially tell the story of his love for the star, or ruminate on her many different films. And here he created one musical film, Spider Woman Kiss As her character Aurora, Ingrid is caught up in a feathery conspiracy between two men, Kendall Nesbitt and Armando, before becoming the main character as well. In essence, the director has filmed a gritty prison drama mixed with a brilliant, colorful MGM score of the kind we saw regularly played in the 1940s and 1950s. It's an inspiring change and gives this more of a reason to exist as a piece of cinema, rather than just a piece transferred from stage to screen. To work, we He owns To become an investor in both of them, And thanks in part to this extraordinarily talented crew We are.
To accomplish this, Condon had to eliminate some of the show's songs, mostly prison songs, but he was compensated for, and in fact enhanced, by the dazzling musical film that came with about 11 production numbers in which Lopez, Lopez, Lopez had the package The whole thing – singing, dancing and acting – she never had the opportunity to appear on screen in this way. As proven in films such as Hustlers, out of sight, And the current Unstoppable She has always been underrated for her work as a dramatic actress, but fans of the period and the films emulated here will see favorable comparisons to this star and Columbia musical icon Rita Hayworth, MGM singer Cyd Charisse, Ava Gardner, and even Marilyn Monroe in the delicious “Gimme Love” number ( choreographed by Christopher Scott) where Aurora is surrounded by male dancers like Marilyn in “Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend” from Fox Music fifties, Gentlemen prefer blondes. Although many of these films were heavy on ridiculous plots and dialogue, it was Condon who pulled them off. for him Musical tribute as one dynamite number after another. It slowly gets darker with the final theme song, eerily delivered with a sense of awkwardness à la Joel Gray's MC in nightclub, The fantasy world of the Hollywood soundstage is no match for the real world and the whims of a dictator.
Not only does Luna play political torture victim Valentin, he also plays a suave music star who plays Armando opposite Lopez, showing off his multi-faceted talents. The discovery of the hack shows Tonatiuh why he landed the role after a global search. Equally adept at the musical demands as Nesbitt, he is heartbreakingly good as a film-obsessed gay young man who lives in his own fantasy world in a repressed society, but also finds love where he least expects it. and Despite all the odds.
Tobias Schlessler, saddled with the demanding camera work required as a cinematographer, recreates not only the candy-colored brightness of MGM's candies, but also the muted color and gloom of an Argentine prison. Not an easy task, but wonderfully accomplished. I almost thought it might be nice to see the prison scenes in pure black and white, but I think the contrast would be too stark. Smart decision made here. The gorgeous production design by Scott Chambliss, along with the eye-catching costume design – especially for Lopez – by Colleen Atwood and Kristin Cantela, is some of the best work, as is the meticulous editing by Brian A. Kate. Hats off to choreographer Sergio Trugolo and co-choreographer Brandon Pepper for those brilliant choreographies.
After a year full of interesting musicals evil to emilia Perez, Bill Condon continues the tradition of the genre he once mastered on a larger scale dream girls beauty and the beast, Screenwriter Ali chicago, It now appears that it is still fresh and alive appropriate Even on an independent filmmaking budget. It will premiere tonight at the Sundance Film Festival where it last appeared in 1998 with its Oscar-winning gods and monsters, The Sundance conclusion of two very different gay stories bound by their shared humanity feels more important than ever.
Spider Woman Kiss Fittingly dedicated to the late lyricist Fred Ebb, the late playwright Terrence McNally, and the late original Broadway star Chita Rivera.
Producers are Barry Josephson, Tom Kardahy and Greg Yolen. Artists Equity and Mohari Media are presenting with former Ben Affleck and Matt Damon among the executive producers including Lopez, Luna, Condon and many more. It takes a village to produce an indoor film these days.
address: Spider Woman Kiss
festival: Sundance (premiere)
Sales agents: CAA and WME
Director/Script: Bill Condon
ejaculate: Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, Tonatiu, Bruno Bichir, Josefina Scaglione, Aline Mayagoitia
Operating time: 2 hours and 8 minutes
