“I hate musicals. Nobody sings in real life.”

“Maybe they should.”

These words are spoken by the main characters of the latest rendition of “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” in which two men in a brutal Argentine prison distract themselves from horrors by bonding over memories of a vintage movie musical. The source material has had a remarkable journey over nearly five decades: from novel (by Manuel Puig, published in 1976) to stage play to movie to stage musical to, finally, movie musical. And, surprisingly, it holds up beautifully. Writer/director Bill Condon (“Dreamgirls,” “Gods and Monsters”) understands the power of song and dance, of the way a musical can capture our dreams, suddenly transporting us out of darkness into a lighter, happier place. It’s not real life; it’s not meant to be.

Marxist revolutionary Valentín (Diego Luna) and gay window dresser Molina (Tonatiuh) share a filthy cell in 1983 Buenos Aires, the former imprisoned for his political views, the latter for his sexuality. Molina, who quickly decorates his half of the room with bead curtains and movie photos, deals with his fear by narrating his favorite movie, the Technicolor musical “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” which stars actress Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez, who also plays the movie-within-the-movie Spider Woman). Valentín is at first dismissive, but soon gets intrigued in spite of himself, whispering conspiratorially to Molina, “Let’s go to the movies.”

So we watch the movie that plays out in their heads, in a Technicolor so bright it seems to sear the screen. In his memory, Molina casts himself and his cellmate in key roles, singing and dancing alongside the beautiful Ingrid, seemingly made of light. He’s a young man, obsessed with movies and beauty (looking at a picture of Ingrid, Molina pulls his robe off his shoulder and gives a come-hither gaze to an invisible camera), and Tonatiuh, a real find, plays him with an almost unbearably poignant sweetness, his enormous eyes seeming to illuminate the screen. Luna’s Valentín has made himself far less vulnerable — it’s a performance of almost uncanny stillness, as if Valentín copes with his hellish situation by carefully controlling every motion, however small. Lopez, her singing splendid and her dancing good enough, oozes movie-star glamour, gloriously larger than life in Colleen Atwood and Christine Cantella’s dazzling costumes.

Condon doesn’t shy away from the violence and tragedy at the heart of this story, but he lets us see the tender, hard-forged connection between Molina and Valentín, and also lets us disappear into a world of tinselly Hollywood beauty, just as they do. Only once does the veil between reality and fantasy drop: when a hauntingly lovely song is performed by fellow inmates on the prison yard, with Valentín softly singing along. Music, as “Kiss of the Spider Woman” reminds us, can break our hearts; it can also, like a hand grasped in the darkness, give us strength.

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'KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN'

3.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language, sexual content and some violence)

Running time: 2:08

How to watch: In theaters Oct. 10

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