No webs are woven by female fiends here. Not that horror of a subtler kind is not implicit in the sometimes harrowing story of the relationship between two men in a prison cell. Molina (William Hurt in a totally effective, Oscar-wining performance) is a flagrant homosexual who has nothing in common with cell-mate Valentin (Raul Julia), a morose revolutionary imprisoned for political beliefs and awaiting only the next torture session. But Molina spins a gossamer web made up from the surface glitter of bad old films (especially one made by the Nazis) as he acts out their absurdly melodramatic plots for Valentin's benefit - and perhaps his own sanity. The drawing-together of the two men to the point where Molina bares all to become the heroine of one of his own films is only occasionally embarrassing, often touching and always absorbing. It's a pity that the film inserts themselves are just too daft to capture the spirit of the original. At the end, though, everything is satisfyingly resolved, showing that the protagonists have found a kind of peace in the midst of angst from their relationship. A pretty unusual film, it's uncompromising but never unsavoury.

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