Prima che sia notte

Evocative and moving story based on the life of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas. The film has excellent acting from Javier Bardem (and smaller but equally excellent performances from Johnny Depp and Sean Penn), wonderful scenery and, most of all, powerful and moving snippets from the work of a novelist whose poetic powers can inspire and lift above the poverty of life or bring emotional poignancy to the depths. This is set in a country where, under Castro's rule, there is no "upper class" - and yet where brutal intolerance can be shown to any 'misfits'. Arenas happens to be homosexual, which is unacceptable, and his poetry extols natural beauty (which is, it seems, seen as counter-revolutionary). The writer survives torture and imprisonment but his works survive and the success of his novels prove an inspiration to him as he survives in abject conditions. The film is a bit slow to start, and occasionally meandering, but overall it provides a powerful piece of cinema.

There's a lyrical quality to this film that makes the brutality of the oppression it depicts seem almost tangible, and `Before Night Falls, ` directed by Julian Schnabel, is photographed in a way that gives much of it something of a documentary feel (and, indeed, some archival footage is included), which defines the drama and adds to the overall impact of the film. And quite a story it is. The true story of writer Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem), who was born in Cuba in 1943, it touches on his childhood, but concentrates on the '60s and '70s, during which time Arenas was considered a counter-revolutionary by the Cuban government because of his writing, as well as his homosexuality.

Schnabel pulls no punches as he presents an incisive picture of the suffering inflicted upon Arenas (and others) through the wanton mistreatment and discrimination of Castro's regime. Extremely well crafted and delivered, it's a film that makes a powerful statement about many of the things so many take for granted. Like freedom of speech and assembly. For as the film points out, in post-revolution Cuba, a gathering of more than three becomes a criminal offense; a group of people getting together for a poetry reading become criminals of the State, and the punishment for expressing one's own thoughts can be, at the very least, torture and imprisonment.

This is the environment in which Arenas grew and matured, as a person, a poet, a writer; still, he was irrepressible when it came to his work, and managed to create and have some of it published, but only by smuggling it out of Cuba (in one instance to France, where his book was named Best Foreign Novel of the year). It's a ruthless, uncompromising world Schnabel lays bare with his camera, and it's that realistic recreation of that very real time and place that is one of the strengths of this film. But what really drives it and makes it so compelling, is Bardem's incredible portrayal of Arenas.

To say that Bardem's performance was worthy of an Oscar would be an understatement; along with Ed Harris (in `Pollock'), it was quite simply one of the two best of the year (2000). In order to bring Arenas to life, it was necessary for Bardem to capture all of the myriad complexities of the man and the artist, which he did-- and to perfection. It's a challenging role, and Bardem more than lives up to it, with a detailed performance through which he expresses the physical, as well as the emotional aspects of the character: His mannerisms, his walk, the body language that says so much about who he is; how he copes with living in a seemingly hopeless situation. By the end of the movie, because of Bardem, you know who Reinaldo Arenas was, and you're not likely to forget him.

The most poignant scenes in the film are those in which Arenas' words are being recited as the camera creates a visual context for them, looking out through the window of a moving car or bus at the streets, towns, buildings and people, as Arenas describes them. These scenes fill the senses and are virtually transporting; and it is in them that the true poetic nature of Arenas is made manifest. It's beautiful imagery, and the contrast between the beauty of the words and the ugliness of the reality against which it is set is powerful. All of which is beautifully conceived and executed by Schnabel; an excellent piece of filmmaking.

In a dual supporting performance, Johnny Depp is effective as Bon Bon, a `queen' Arenas meets during his incarceration, and also as Lieutenant Victor, who oversees the prison. Each character is unique, and it's quite a showcase for Depp's versatility.

Rounding out the supporting cast are Olivier Martinez (Lazaro), Andrea Di Stefano (Pepe), Sean Penn (Cuco), Michael Wincott (Herberto), Pedro Armendariz Jr. (Reinaldo's Grandfather) and Vito Maria Schnabel (Teenage Reinaldo). A film that is not necessarily entertaining, and at times unpleasant to watch because of it's stark realism, `Before Night Falls' is, nevertheless, thought-provoking, riveting drama that is thoroughly engrossing. And it proves that beauty can indeed be found in the least likely of places. But it also makes you realize that it is up to each individual to care enough to seek it out, and to hopefully have the wisdom to realize it once it is found. And that's the real beauty of a film like this; it affords you the opportunity to do just that. I rate this one 10/10.

The little-discussed topic of the persecution of homosexuals in Castro's Cuba is the prevailing theme throughout Julan Schnabel's masterful film of the life of writer Reinaldo Arenas. But this is far more than a simple piece of political agit-prop; instead, it's a beautifully constructed movie about the artistic temperament but with plenty of the same quality itself; visually, the movie is consistently striking, and yet of a piece. There's also a fine performance from Javier Bardem in the lead role. What the film doesn't do very much is follow it's characters in real time for anything longer than the duration of a snapshot; this slightly distances the viewer from the mechanics of the drama, and in consequence, at times it feels slow. Instead, it communicates through images (and fragments of the writer's own poetry); and the scene where the hot air balloon rises through the roof of a ruined church is so perfectly created it's a work of art in itself. 'Before Night Falls' is not light entertainment; but it's seriously good.

Incredible central performance from Javier Bardem ties the film together and makes you really care what happens. Great supporting players: Sean Penn has one incredible scene early on, who had us convinced he was Cuban. We didn't at all recognise him. Johnny Depp plays two small parts, but two very memorable ones. Growly-voiced Michael Wincott (played the bad guy in The Crow and Along Came a Spider and The Doors' manager in The Doors) is memorable. Andrea di Stefano is great as a central antagonist of Reinaldo, as is the now-Hollywood-famous Olivier Martinez who plays a touching, platonic friend to Reinaldo.

Beautifully photographed and directed in an admirable manner that draws attention to style every now and then in a poetic way very fitting for a bio-pic about a poet, and at other times just utilises style to tells the story very well, and seem not to be fussing about style at all.

There are scenes here where the sound effects track stops and this gorgeous cello music by Carter Burwell (composer of Being John Malkovich, Meet Joe Black, Man who Wasn't There, with another beautiful score) plays while we watch Bardem sitting in a club while people dance around him, and the music tells us he is far away. It is a wonderful scene, akin to Kurosawa's use of music in the brilliant burning of the first castle scene in Ran.

The way the camera tells this story was so marvellous and slick (though using rough camera work to tell moments of uneasiness, importantly this is not over-used as it was in the recent Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) that i knew the filmmaker had been influenced by American filmmaking, but throughout i had no idea the guy actually WAS American! The TV program misleadingly told us it was a Cuban movie (which it is not - it is an American production with Spanish, Cuban and American actors)

I'm even more shocked considering this is the guy who made Basquiat, which i always thought was more a tele-movie, and more about art than about movie-style. Julian Schnabel, i now learn, was a neo-expressionist painter in the 80's! Basquiat, about an artist, perhaps was a movie where he was making the transition between art-language and movie-language. Before Night Falls uses traditional storytelling, to be sure, but it has such a spellbinding cinematic quality i felt sure its director was one with cinema on the brain. Perhaps Schnabel has caught the bug after all.

People's revolutions begin with the best of intentions, such as removing unjust rulers, but often have an unfortunate tendency to go awry, exchanging one dictator for another. Cuba is an excellent example of this axiom: in 1959, a small band of revolutionaries led by a young lawyer named Fidel Castro ousted Fulgencio Batista, the US backed dictator. Castro would have been welcomed with open arms by the US, had he not embarked on a campaign of nationalization, which led to Cuba's regional isolation and eventual alliance with the Soviet Union. In keeping with communist doctrine, Castro the liberator became Castro the jailer and began purging the freethinkers and anyone who was "different". If you happened to be a gay author and poet, yours was a dismal future indeed.

Reinaldo Arenas grew up poor and free, enjoying the liberation that only a child of the land can experience. His carefree world was shattered when a teacher discovered the boy's artistic bent, and communicated this to Reinaldo's grandfather. His reaction was to banish the boy and run away to the city. Undaunted, Reinaldo continued to nourish his talents and in the newfound post-revolution euphoria explored his sexuality. His ideas and sexual persuasion soon attracted the unwanted attention of an increasingly repressive regime, which would ultimately lead to his internment, re-education and exile.

For the second time in as many months, I find myself having a hard time reviewing a movie. According to the trade journals, "Before Night Falls" made fifty film critics' top ten lists (not a difficult feat given the dearth of decent films in 2000), has won numerous awards and is "one of the best films ever made". In light of these rave reviews, I keep asking myself one question - "Did I miss something?"

Spanish actor Javier Bardem ("Jamon Jamon") who infuses his portrayal with the appropriate emotional sensitivity and resolve brings Arenas to life. For Arenas, being forbidden to write was akin to being forbidden to breathe, he could not and would not cease his writing, even if it meant imprisonment and torture in a Cuban gulag. Like his passion for writingis sexuality, it was again not a matter of choice, which Bardem makes very clear. Johnny Depp adds another interesting character, or more appropriately characters, to his pantheon of performances in a dual role as a talented transvestite and a brutal military commander. His characters emphasize the duality of relationships in police states, where your best friend may be an informant and you trust no one (as many horrified East Germans discovered in post-wall Germany). Equally impressive was Andrea Di Stefano as Pepe, Reinaldo's part-time lover and all around bad influence. The technical aspects of the film are more ambiguous. Director Julian Schnabel's decision to splice in grainy film footage from post revolutionary Cuba was as bold as it was ingenious. The scenes, which contain little dialogue, contribute a tangible realism to the film, and convey the initial jubilation and eventual stifling repression of the newly "liberated" country. Music is also used very effectively to establish mood, with some surprising non-Latin choices- Lou Reed's "Rouge" substitutes for dialogue in a nightclub scene, and speaks more about betrayal than any words could. I do however, have several reservations about the film.

At times, the direction and editing is erratic. This in turn disrupts the continuity of the film and makes several scenes difficult to follow. For example, while I realize that the film is about an author and poet, the inclusion of his poems is done haphazardly and serves little purpose. More importantly, while the poems are read in Spanish, the bulk of the dialogue is in English. This wouldn't normally be a concern, except that, several of the cast members have very thick accents and do not speak English well. It would have made more sense to have Spanish dialogue throughout and use English subtitles. As it was, I regularly had to strain to understand portions of dialogue and almost missed several key elements.

Schnabel's film paints a beautiful and sometimes-ugly picture of one man's constant struggle against state-sponsored repression and discrimination. The story is especially poignant when you remember that events unfolding before you are true. In spite of excellent performances, and interesting direction choices, the directing is also inconsistent at times and several poor editing choices cause the film to drag in places. "Before Night Falls" is a very good film that should have been great.