Before Night Falls is a 2000 American biographical drama film directed by Julian Schnabel. The film is based on both the autobiography of the same name by Reinaldo Arenas—published in English in 1993Before Night Falls cinetropic.com.—as well as Jana Boková's 1990 documentary Havana.
The screenplay was co-written by Schnabel, Lázaro Gómez Carriles and Cunningham O'Keefe. The film stars Javier Bardem (in his international film debut), Johnny Depp, Olivier Martinez, Andrea Di Stefano, Santiago Magill, John Ortiz, Héctor Babenco, Sean Penn, and Michael Wincott. The film had its world premiere at the 57th Venice International Film Festival. At the 73rd Academy Awards, Bardem was nominated for Best Actor, becoming the first Spanish performer to do so.
Plot In the film, Arenas is born in Oriente Province, Cuba in 1943 and raised by his single mother and her parents, who soon move the entire family to Holguín. After moving to Havana in the 1960s to continue his studies, Reinaldo begins to explore his ambitions, as well as his sexuality. After receiving an honorary mention in a writing contest, Arenas is offered the chance to publish his first work. Through his work and friendships with other openly gay men, like Pepe Malas and Tomas Diego, Arenas manages to find himself.
The political climate in Cuba becomes increasingly dangerous, and in the early 1970s Arenas is arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting minors, and for publishing abroad without official consent. He is imprisoned in El Morro Castle where he endures abuse and violence from guards. In the next decade, he is in and out of prison, attempting and failing to leave the country several times.
In 1980, Arenas finally leaves Cuba for the United States during the Mariel Boatlift, starting a new life with his close friend Lazaro Gomez Carriles. A few years later, Arenas is diagnosed with AIDS. In one scene where he is sick in the hospital, a nurse tells Arenas he is going home, to which he delirously replies, "to Cuba?" After spending several years suffering he dies in 1990. At the end of the film, a Spanish and English version of Arenas' poem "Yo soy" is used.
Historical Context Set within the rise of the Cuban Revolution, the film portrays the subjugation of queer individuals as a means of “correcting” anti-revolutionary behavior. Homosexuality had been formally criminalized in Cuba in the Social Defense Code of 1938, article 490, threatening up to six months in prison. Inspired by Stalinist principles criminalizing homosexuals, the Popular Socialist Party set forth policies further targeting Cuban homosexuals, including expulsion from schools and targeting artists and intellectuals such as Arenas. Beginning in 1965, gay men and transgender women were included among other detainees deemed “anti-social” for not conforming to revolutionary ideals and were placed in re-education labor camps known as Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Produccion (UMAP) or Military Units to Aid Production. Men who displayed effeminate behavior were also targeted by the regime for not fitting the hypermasculine standards under the machismo culture of Cuba. Tangible changes in the legal status of homosexuality were not seen until 1979, where the new Penal Code removed the previously imposed article 490.
Cast
Production Julian Schnabel got the idea of making Before Night Falls immediately after making Basquiat; however, it took four years to actually produce the film.
Bardem spent one-and-a-half months in New York City with Arenas's best friend, Lazaro Gomez Carriles, taking two hours a day to study how Arenas walked and talked.
Reception and accolades Critical response On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 74% approval rating and an 83% popcornmeter rating based on 100 reviews and an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's consensus states: "An impressionistic, fragmented look at Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls imagery manages to evoke a sense of the writer's artistry, and Bardem's strong performance holds the film together. Finally, a biopic done well." Metacritic reports an 85 out of 100 rating based on 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, stating, "One is reminded a little of the Marquis de Sade, as portrayed in Quills. It was never simply what they wrote, but that, standing outside convention, taunting the authorities, inhabiting impossible lives, they wrote at all." Peter Travers from Rolling Stone awarded the film a full five out of five stars, writing, "In uniting to honor Arenas, Bardem and Schnabel create something extraordinary."
Box office The film opened in eight venues on December 22, 2000, and earned $85,230 in its first weekend, ranking #34 in the North American box office. The film received a wide release on February 23, 2001.
Before Night Falls grossed $4.2 million in the US and $4.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $8.5 million from an estimated $20 million budget.
Awards and nominations At the 73rd Academy Awards (2001), Javier Bardem became the first Spanish actor to be nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Award Category Nominee(s) Result Academy Awards Best Actor Javier Bardem ALMA Awards Outstanding Feature Film Outstanding Latino Cast in a Feature Film Outstanding Soundtrack or Compilation for Television and Film American Film Institute Awards Top 10 Movies of the Year Awards Circuit Community Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role Javier Bardem Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Actor Chlotrudis Awards Best Actor GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Film – Limited Release Golden Globe Awards Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Javier Bardem Independent Spirit Awards Best Feature Best Director Julian Schnabel Best Male Lead Javier Bardem Best Cinematography Xavier Pérez Grobet and Guillermo Rosas Latin ACE Awards Cinema – Best Actor Javier Bardem Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Actor National Board of Review Awards Top 10 Films Best Actor Javier Bardem Freedom of Expression National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Actor Javier Bardem New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actor Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Actor Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role Political Film Society Awards Exposé Human Rights Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards Best Foreign Actor Javier Bardem SESC Film Festival Best Foreign Actor (Audience Award) Best Foreign Actor (Critics Award) Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards Best Actor Venice International Film FestivalAwards nytimes.com. Golden Lion Julian Schnabel Grand Jury Prize OCIC Award – Honorable Mention Volpi Cup for Best Actor Javier Bardem Rota Soundtrack Award Carter Burwell World Soundtrack Awards Soundtrack Composer of the Year Best Original Score of the Year
Soundtrack
El Que Siembra Su Maíz - Trio Matamoros Tu Veras - Trio Matamoros El Tumbaito - Guayabero Ay Mariposa - Pedro Luis Ferrer El Trio y El Ciclon - Trio Matamoros Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes (Lacrime Di Re) - Popol Vuh Baton Rouge - Lou Reed Loop Vamp - Laurie Anderson Los Tamalitos De Olga - Orquesta Aragón Descarga Sonora - Sonora Matancera Crisantemo - Ernesto Lecuona Por Que Me La Dejaste Querer? - Bola de Nieve Duerme - Bebo Valdés Surrounding The Casbah - Ennio Morricone (from "The Battle of Algiers" (1966)) Conoci La Paz - Benny Moré Kamata Mariyam - Fairuz El Canonero - Benny Moré En El Olvido - Jose Espinosa Adagietto, Sehr Langsam - Berliner Philharmoniker (from Mahler's Symphony No. 5) Fefita - José Urfé Mujer Perjura - Antonio Escobar
Notes
References
External links
Before Night Falls Soundtracks at IMDb