Two prisoners form an unlikely bond in a brutal Argentine prison in Director Bill Condon’s musical drama, Kiss of the Spider Woman.
In his reimagining of Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel that became a Tony Award-wining Broadway musical, Condon’s film tells the story of Valentín, a political prisoner who shares a cell with Molina, a gay window dresser convicted of public indecency. They find themselves developing an unexpected friendship as — to escape the grim reality of their incarceration — Molina entertains Valentín by recounting the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver screen diva, Ingrid Luna.
On September 14, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Condon discussed the making of Kiss of the Spider Woman during a Q&A moderated by Director Greg Berlanti (Fly Me to the Moon). He is also scheduled to speak about the film following the DGA’s New York2 screening on September 27.
During the Los Angeles conversation, Condon discussed how he overcame the limitations of shooting so many scenes in the same prison cell.
“Obviously, the biggest challenge is when you’re on set and you’ve got those four walls, and you’ve got so many scenes. We really tried to figure out different approaches to different scenes. As an example, there’s a moment where Molina is crying and Valentín goes over to him and the movies start to merge into each other. There’s a real grittiness in [cinematographer] Tobias [Schliessler]’s approach in the first part but by the end, he goes to Molina sitting there. He’s just lit in such a beautiful, romantic way. It’s like the ideas of the movie are making their way into the cell. That’s the thrill of being able to shoot one and then the other.”
Condon’s other directorial credits include the feature films The Good Liar, Beauty and the Beast, The Fifth Estate, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Kinsey, Gods and Monsters, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and Sister, Sister; the movies for television The Man Who Wouldn’t Die, Deadly Relations, Dead in the Water, White Lie and Murder 101; and episodes of The Big C and The Others.
Condon was nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for his 2006 release, Dreamgirls. He has been a DGA member since 1990.