Based on the stage musical adapted from Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Terrence McNally, Kiss of the Spider Woman contrasts the bleak reality of its principal characters against the romantic, Technicolor fantasy and spectacle of a movie musical from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Bill Condon’s film adaptation draws a starker line between these two modes by having the film’s musical numbers almost entirely contained in the film-within-a-film of Molina’s fantasies.
Camera Operator spoke with A camera operator John “Buzz” Moyer, SOC, about his work on the musical sequences for the film, what it was like evoking this classic style of filmmaking, and the challenges—both creatively and technically—that came with making a film in 2025 that feels like a lost relic of the 1940s.
Set against the backdrop of political revolution in Argentina, political prisoner Valentin Arregui is made to share a cell with Luis Molina, a queer window dresser who was arrested for public indecency. Unbeknownst to Arregui, Molina is being pressured by the prison warden to gather information about the revolutionary and his associates in exchange for a reduced sentence. As Molina weighs his loyalties, he escapes into a world of fantasy by recounting the story of his favorite movie musical, “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Kiss of the Spider Woman is written and directed by Bill Condon and stars Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, and Jennifer Lopez.
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David Daut 