The life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas.The life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas.The life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 15 wins & 22 nominations total
- Reinaldo's Mother
- (as Olatz Lopez Garmendia)
- Reinaldo's Father
- (as Sebastián Silva)
- Teenage Reinaldo
- (as Vito Maria Schnabel)
- Reinaldo's Grandfather
- (as Pedro Armendáriz)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlmost every scene, according to Guillermo Rosas, was photographed with a chocolate-colored filter on the camera lens. This contributed a great deal to the distinctive colors and textures in the film, especially the skin tones, and the vibrancy in green hues.
- Quotes
Reinaldo Arenas: Walking along streets that collapse from crumbling sewers. Past buildings that you jump to avoid because they will fall on you. Past grim faces that size you up and sentence you. Past closed shops, closed markets, closed cinemas, closed parks, closed cafes. Sometimes showing dusty signs, justifications: "CLOSED FOR RENOVATION," "CLOSED FOR REPAIRS." What kind of repairs? When will these so-called renovations be finished? When at last will they begin? Closed... closed... closed... everything closed. I arrive, open the countless padlocks and run up the temporary stairs. There she is, waiting for me. I pull off the cover, and stare at her dusty, cold shape. I clean off the dust and caress her. With my hand, delicately, I wipe clean her back, her base and her sides. In front of her, I feel desperate and happy. I run my fingers over her keyboard and suddenly it all starts up. With a tinkling sound the music begins, little by little, then faster; now full speed. Walls, trees, streets, cathedrals, faces and beaches. Cells, mini- cells, huge cells. Starry nights, bare feet, pines, clouds. Hundreds, thousands, millions of parrots. A stool, a climbing plant, they all answer my call, all come to me. The walls recede, the roof vanishes, and you float quite naturally. You float uprooted, dragged off, lifted high. Transported, immortalized, saved. Thanks to that subtle, continuous rhythm, that music, that incessant tap-tap.
- Alternate versionsThe UK version is cut by 18 secs to remove a shot of a live bird caught in a noose.
- ConnectionsEdited from P.M. (1961)
- SoundtracksEl Que Siembra Su Maiz
Written by Miguel Matamoros
Performed by Trio Matamoros
Published by Peer International Corp.
Courtesy of Discos Revuelta SADECV
As a student of Latin American History and Literature I was pleased with the way the film handled the historical context of Arenas' time. The political context of Before Night Falls shouldn't come as any surprise. The artistic, social and political invisibility of gays in Cuba under the Cuban Revolution represented a dark stain on the revolutionary record. In 1965 Fidel Castro told Lee Lockwood (in Castro's Cuba, Cuba's Fidel) that `we would never come to believe that a homosexual could embody the conditions and requirements of conduct that would enable us to consider him a true Revolutionary, a true communist militant. A deviation of that nature clashes with the concept we have of what a militant Communist must be' In the mid-1960's, the infamous UMAP work camps (Unidades Militares de Auyuda a la Producción) sought to rehabilitate what they perceived as alleged antisocial elements. This is an event that is accurately depicted in Schnabel's film. The purges and denunciations of homosexuals continued into the 1980's. Today in Cuba discrimination against gays still represents a major problem. The revolution dealt with gender and racial discrimination but not with discrimination against gays. This is all documented with stunning use of archival footage and reference accounts from Arenas' autobiography.
Any review of the film would be incomplete without mentioning Javier Bardem's work. I have seen a lot of movies and few performances are even in the same league as Bardem's. I was fascinated with how he carried this film with a performance that must have been very difficult for him to adjust to. The supporting work by Johnny Depp should also be praised. His dual performance, for me, accurately identified how many within Castro's army may have used their positions as a front to deny their own sexuality as well. Overall, I was very impressed with this film and I highly recommend it
- Preston-10
- Feb 9, 2001
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Antes que anochezca
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,242,892
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $85,230
- Dec 25, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $8,601,053
- Runtime2 hours 13 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1