Before Night Falls

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Based on the posthumously published memoir by Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls is artist-director Julian Schnabel's second exercise in artist biography, but where Schnabel's earlier film Basquiat was relatively conventional, this film is bolder in both style and execution. Schnabel is perhaps too enamored of his subject as a noble martyr, lending the film a somewhat inflated sense of importance. Still, it's rare to see an artist's life and work so elegantly interwoven, and Before Night Falls uses all of Arenas's life as its canvas, from impoverished youth to lively gay freedom in mid-1950's Cuba; imprisonment during Castro's antigay regime; and to New York City in 1980, followed by Arenas's battle with AIDS and subsequent suicide (depicted here as assisted) in 1990.

Through these extreme rises and falls, Arenas is always writing, his typewriter his most faithful lover and weapon (by way of smuggled manuscripts) against the dark forces that surround him. As Time magazine's Richard Corliss wrote, Arenas is "a serious actor's dream role: to be a gay Jesus in a modern Passion Play," and Javier Bardem--the first Spanish actor to receive an Oscar nomination--inhabits the role with subtle ferocity, charting this emotional odyssey with outer reserve but blazing infernos of internal passion. And while Schnabel suffers from a hyperactive camera, there's poetry here--visual, dramatic, and literal--and vibrant humor to temper the deep tragedy of Arenas's life. Schnabel also uses his actor friends to good advantage: a nearly unrecognizable Sean Penn adds an ironic touch to his brief appearance as a peasant, and Johnny Depp is both funny and fearsome in dual roles as a drag queen and vicious army interrogator. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

pobre inocente!.......2007-04-19

javier bardem stars as cuban poet reinaldo arenas in this stolid and overlong biopic (with pretensions of artiness) that lets us know that castros cuba is not a workers paradise especially if youre a flitty gay poet. better in its longings than in its execution.

Maybe it's me.......2007-03-31

This movie just didn't do much for me. I found it agonizingly slow, and another annoying testament to an artist who had to die to be appreciated; who worked his entire life producing only to remain penniless and uninsured even in his final days. If Castro's Cuba is so bad, what does that say about America? Anyway, I will say that the cinematography was beautiful and it did transport you to another world, and that I always appreciate - the beauty of the color, the music, the earth, sea and sky. I appreciated the fine art of Johnny Depp, I must have missed Sean Penn.

I guess it depends on what you want to see it for. There are some rather nasty torture scenes and nudity. Not a date movie, but if you are studying art or the artist himself, go for it.

Mandatory viewing for Castro apologists.......2006-12-21

In my head i'd mistakenly assumed that Fidel Casto was the acceptable face of dictatorships....he has designer label kudos,and is much beloved by some with a left wing disposition.
Upon watching this marvellous but somewhat sprawling film my wrong assumption became very apparent as i learnt about gay people being sent to concentration camps and beaten up. Castro's speeches effectively intermingle with the film and the general rhetoric reminded me of Hitler(who was of course worse)

Befire Night Falls.......2006-08-14

This story is so fascinating that I couldn't stop feeling that the drive to create and to be true to one's identity and sexual preference had to be overwhelming to cause the writer, Arenas, to survive and escape the homophobic surroundings in Cuba under Castro. Johnny Depp is unbelievably wonderful as both the sadistic lieutenant and the transporting Drag Queen.

Life is its' own reward.......2006-08-03

I read the book many years before seeing the movie. Both are testimonies of the mystery of the human spirit, the wonder and love of life, and the ugliness of human hatred.

Average customer rating:

pobre inocente!
Maybe it's me
Mandatory viewing for Castro apologists
Befire Night Falls
Life is its' own reward

Before Night Falls [Region 2]
Starring: Javier Bardem , Olivier Martinez , Andrea Di Stefano , Johnny Depp , and Michael Wincott
Director: Julian Schnabel
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000067NPE

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Customer Reviews:

pobre inocente!.......2007-04-19

Maybe it's me.......2007-03-31

Mandatory viewing for Castro apologists.......2006-12-21

Befire Night Falls.......2006-08-14

Life is its' own reward.......2006-08-03

I read the book many years before seeing the movie. Both are testimonies of the mystery of the human spirit, the wonder and love of life, and the ugliness of human hatred.

Before Night Falls [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]

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Before Night Falls [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]
Director: Julian Schnabel
Manufacturer: Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000FMU2RO

Product Description

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Subtitles), French (Subtitles), Spanish (Subtitles), WIDESCREEN, SYNOPSIS: One of the most universally acclaimed films of the year, Before Night Falls appeared on over 75 Ten Best lists and features Academy Award nominee Javier Bardem in a mesmerizing and inspired performance! (Rex Reed, New York Observer). Julian Schnabel directs this incredible journey through the life and work of the late Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. Victimized by a government that banned his books and jailed him for a crime he didnt commit, Reinaldo endured unspeakable persecution in a courageous stand against censorship and oppression. Without a country but not without integrity, he fled to America where he continued to fight for personal expression and produced a stirring body of work. Featuring a dual performance by Johnny Depp, Before Night Falls is a tribute to the liberating power of art... and one mans undying passion for life.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailer(s), Special Edition, Scene Access, Making Of, Interactive Menu, Filmographies, Commentary, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Biographies,

Charlie Rose with Javier Bardem; David Gordon Green; William Kennard (March 8, 2001)

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Charlie Rose with Javier Bardem; David Gordon Green; William Kennard (March 8, 2001)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Description

Oscar-nominated actor Javier Bardem talks about his portrayal of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas in the movie Before Night Falls. Then, the young filmmaker David Gordon Green speaks about his critically-acclaimed film George Washington, about a group of underprivileged children. Last, the former chairman of the FCC William Kennard reflects on changes in the telecommunications industry and improvements made to the FCC during his tenure.

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