discrepancies in Spider Woman film

Upon finishing watching The Kiss of the Spider Woman film adaptation, I didn't feel quite satisfied. There were a couple of things that I felt were missing.

First of all, the most apparent difference is the melding of the films Molina discusses into one major film that expands throughout the whole film. It is understandable that including all the six films in the movie would have probably made it tediously long, but I got a sense that the film moved into the affection phase of Molina and Valentin's relationship too quickly. With each film Molina describes, clear parallels can be made between what his feelings and the protagonist he is describing from his films. In the movie, I couldn't really tell Molina's was describing his feelings with the film as its guise.

Another change that really bothered me was the apparent change in Valentin's character. Instead of being a passionate political activist and having studied architecture, he is a journalist in the film. Such a change didn't really make sense, it sort of dulled the oppositions that were made in the novel: Valentin- a realist, Molina- an escapist. Babenco also excluded completely Valentin's pension for studying, a characteristic I felt was key in his character. It demonstrated his connection to the outside world, Valentin's studying was like Molina's films; they were his way of staying in touch with a certain reality and a form of escapism. Because of this, I feel Valentin in the movie is a less developed character in the film.

In the last scene where Valentin is dreaming, a huge part of the dream is missing. Babenco's film basically communicates that Valentin sees Marta and all is well; he technically still loves her and only her. In the novel, however, there is mention to the Spider Woman who is an extension of Molina; Marta even says she isn't jealous because he's never going to see her again. In other words, there is more proof that Valentin does love Molina more in the end in the novel than in the film. Also, the possible allusion to the death in the dream with the mention of being led to a light is omitted completely from the novel, which I feel takes away from the mystery of the novel's end.

In retrospect, despite all these differences, the message in both the novel and the film remains relatively the same. Two opposites come together through escapism and discover things about the other and themselves which leads them to change, and one to ultimately sacrifice themselves: all for love.

PUIG'S NARRATIVE STYLE

I have never read anything quite like Kiss of the Spider Woman; from the first sentence, I was immediately captivated. This pleasant reaction was a result of Manuel Puig's writing techniques.

Firstly, the heavy use of dialogue between Valentin and Molina sort of elminates a main narrator; there is a narrative authority to some extent, as discussed in class, with Molina's dialogue and the excerpts of the prisoner reports dispersed throughout. This choice in writing was refreshing to read because all sort of narrative expectations were thrown out the window and I could concentrate on what the two characters at hand were saying. In certain cases, It was like trying to solve a puzzle. For instance, in order to find out the setting, time and place these two characters lived in, I had to pay close attention to their dialogue as opposed to other books where one relies on the 1st or 3rd person narrator to explain such things. It read like a play or screenplay of sorts; I was glad too see such a method of writing could be translated this seamlessly for a novel.

I also was impressed by Puig's use of the films Molina tells Valentin as a vehicle to express their rawest feelings. Whether Molina is making up the films or reiterating a Hollywood film word for word is not important. As Michael Boccia states in his essay, "when Molina and Valentin embellish the films" they are really "revealing their human desires and needs." Molina and Valentin's love develops perhaps because they were able to get to know each other's most true selves through this artistic form of expression. There were no rules to telling these films, and Molina constructed them in order to reveal his most vulnerable feelings, which in turn, eventually allowed Valentin to do the same. Both these prisoners, literally trapped inside a cell, are able to at least be free metaphorically and discover their true selves through the powerful force of art.

Puig offers a very different and unique love story which is only enhanced by his inventive form of presentation.

Alea's Memories of Underdevelopment

Thomás Gutiérrez Alea's film could actually be summarized by a scene in the actual film: it is a tragically poetic shot in which Sergio is washing his hands in the sink and he leaves behind excess bubbles. He tries to wash them away but they continue to live in the sink. This shot encapsulates Sergio's journey throughout the film. He constantly tries to run away from this so called "underdevelopment" left behind by the revolution, but no matter how much he tries to wash it away, he is not able to escape it...the "bubbles" of his underdevelopment stay behind.

I was impressed with Alea's treatment of the source material. It is certainly an advantage that Desnoes himself worked with Alea on the film adaptation of the novel. This collaboration helped take the novel to the next level, I believe. Scenes such as the visit to the Hemingway house and the Kennedy and Castro speeches were even added to that of the original Spanish version, which have proven to be very valuable in the film. It was like the film was Desnoes's final draft.

One thing I am certainly pleased with was Alea's take on the narrative in the novel. In Desnoes's work, the narrator is speaking to us through what seem like journal entries, which are very precise and personal. At times, though, the narrative can seem like the random complaints of an ex bourgeousie Cuban who thinks he is somehow better than most of his peers when he himself is flawed in many ways. Many films tend to take advantage of the voiceover but I think it was a key element here. Whenever Sergio gave his voiceover speeches, something important was being depicted, whether it be scenes of the trial or the documentary pieces; the visualization of these monologues of Sergio's definitely add more meaning to the words and make him a more personable character than in the novel.

underdevelopment vs. inconsolable

Memories of Underdevelopment was once called Inconsolable Memories. The title change is more effective now as it describes the protagonist, Sergio's, inner isolation and turmoil in the face of this social climate change in Cuba.

Lessons of Experience by Michael Chanan states that underdevelopment is an "economic concept" but it can also be applied emotionally. Sergio has made a decision to stay behind and enclose himself in this environment which he cannot even stomach sometimes, calling his acquaintance Pablo, "a perfect moron." Sergio himself realizes that his country has "sunk in underdevelopment." I found it a bit disturbing, however, how unaffected he seems by the events that lead him to such insolation; he lets his wife leave him and willingly decides to stay home most of the time. he seems displeased with his environment, complaining about the bourgeouis and their faults but yet does nothing--does not flee, does not fight, just remains.

This state of paralysis is even more evident through the personal form of narrative Desnoes employs. Sergio is always consumed with talking about material things, such as his need for keeping in shape or fantasizing about Noemi. I feel like Sergio uses the Revolution and its effects as a mean to change, but ultimately does not take any grand steps towards achieving change more so because he was stuck in the past, underdeveloped rather than inconsolable.

Bertolucci: The Spider's Strategem

I was throughly pleased with Bertolucci's film, The Spider's Strategem. I would consider the film one of the better results of a hypertext developed from a hypotext, which in this case is Borges's Theme of the Traitor and the Hero.

Visually, the film was beautiful; Bertolucci seems to have paved the way for the films now in terms of shots and angles. The shot when Athos gets punched for no particular reason, showing just the fist and sound of a punch rather than filming the whole action. It felt a bit familiar, probably because others have been inspired by Bertolucci's genius. Also, towards the end while Athos is in the theater piecing the final clues in the quest for his father's murderer: it felt like a sort of a visual mind trick in how you see Athos on one side and his father's friends off in the distance in the box across the theater and as Athos is verbally piecing the clues together a friend disappears one by one until they all end up in the same box where his father was killed and the confession is revealed. When Draifa is speaking in the present but is placed in a flashback is something I also found incredibly clever. The music, I felt, was very effective in the film, particularly when Athos is taken to the Po River and begins to run out of fear of being harmed by his father's friends.

As Bertolucci states in his interview, he was inspired by the story and maintained most of its "mechanism." Changing some details, among them being the setting and characters, Bertolucci took Borges's story and made it his, applying it to his own experiences at the time; according to him, the film wouldn't have been possible without Bertolucci's experience undergoing psychoanalysis prior to writing the script. As a result, I figure this is a very personal work of art; without this prior knowledge, of both the Borges story or Bertolucci's interview, I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much. They both gave me a deeper insight into the film's message which helped me appreciate it that much more.