Pros: Bardem's acting, Good cameos by Depp, Beautiful cinematography, Provides insights into Castro's Cuba, Excellent translation of the writer's life to film medium
Cons: Uneven, Pacing is problematic, Seems disjointed at times, anti climatic during the U.S. scenes, Over reliance on voice overs (though difficult to communicate a writer's work otherwise)
Before Night Falls depicts the life of the gay Cuba poet/novelist Reinaldo Arenas and shows us a rare look inside Castro's Cuba. That reason alone makes Julian Schabel's film worth viewing, as about the only glimpses we generally get of Cuba in film are outsider tidbits of the political situation, as in Godfather II and in the current 13 Days. If nothing else, the film will make you consider the ideas of freedom that so many Americans take for granted.
Synopsis
We literally follow Arenas' life from birth to death in the docu-drama, with snatches of real documentary film of Castro thrown into the uneven mix with snatches of Arenas' poetry read to us in voiceovers. Some of the images are quiet haunting, including some opening imagery of Arenas' childhood in verdant idyllic poverty. Fascinated with language, the teenage Reinaldo (played by Vito Maria Schnabel) gives the trees names and carves bits of poetic thoughts on them. When his elementary teacher recognizes his poetic abilities, this is too much for his uncle, so soon Reinaldo is off to the freedom promised by joining up with the rebels.
It's not long before Reinaldo (Javier Bardem) realizes how political confining Castro's regime is. Not even his fantasies about a return to "heaven" on Earth that he experienced as a youth are acceptable literature.
For a while Arenas enjoys sexual freedom in Havana, favoring long beach walks and sexual encounters with male partners. His first boyfriend, Pepe (Andrea Di Stefano), represents a natural ideal to Reinaldo but will eventually betray him. Though Reinaldo's sexuality is obvious, the film doesn't show explicit scenes. Even the most surprising scene involving machismo Cuban soldiers on a night beach is restrained.
A true artist and independent spirit, Reinaldo continues to write politically incorrect stories, despite the fact that he cannot publish such material in his repressive native Cuba. Instead he finds ways to smuggle his manuscripts out of the country, notably depicted when he meets an admiring English couple visiting from India. These published writings will later make Arenas a target for persecution. That, along with the fact that he is openly gay, lands Reinaldo in prison more than once. The greens that Reinaldo longs for dwell in the woods, and are incompatible with the military olives of the Marxist state.
Eventually, Reinaldo migrates to Miami during the 1980 Mariel boatlift for undesirables, as Castro had clamped down on homosexuals. Soon, the unhappy Reinaldo moves to New York City, where he spends his last months suffering from AIDS before committing suicide in 1990, his farewell letter continuing to blame Castro for his difficulties.
Film elements
Using Reinaldo's posthumous memoirs as source material, Julian Schnabel gives us vignettes of Reinaldo's life without overly analyzing it. That provides a strength to the film, yet at times makes the film difficult to follow as we're not sure exactly why certain scenes are contained. This makes the pacing difficult, as I was most interested in Reinaldo's Cuban period but found the last years in the United States meandering and pointless.
While many will praise Before Night Falls as superior to Schnabel's previous film, Basquiat, because it shows a fuller view of the writer's life, more is not always better. The film seems to run overly long, and I would have preferred to see the ending tightened more.
Communicating a writer's creativity through visual means is difficult, so I'm grateful that Schnabel provides the added on voiceovers to give us a sense of Reinaldo's skills. The film certainly succeeds at showing us more about the writer's character than the inferior Total Eclipse shows us about Rimbaud. Before Night Falls will surely create more interest in Reinaldo's works as the film is shown at arthouses around the country.
The biggest positives going for Schnabel's film are the acting performances. Javier Bardem has been named best actor by the National Board of Review and could soon claim a deserved Oscar nomination. Bardem gives a heartfelt performance of the inadvertent rebel. He's not a hardcore political dissident -- only a sensitive person who longs for self expression and love. Bardem submerges himself into the melancholy role so deeply that I came to believe that he actually was the tortured Reinaldo Arenas, and will forever associate the two. (just like Charlton Heston and Moses)
American audiences will be most interested in some cameo roles with Sean Penn practicing his Spanish accent in a brief one, and with Johnny Depp providing more showy dual roles. The first Depp appearance is a risky humorous one as a transvestite with unique talents for smuggling manuscripts, and the second personifies a Castro soldier who uses coercion to get Arenas to certify that his writings are all lies. Depp provides two of the film's most memorable moments in his two brief appearances.
Overall, Before Night Falls is a worthwhile film. It may be uneven in parts and seem anticlimactic during the latter stages even though the death scene is well done, but it's good to see a creative artist attempt to translate other artists' lives to the screen. This isn't a perfect film, but it's informative and I'll look forward to Julian Schnabel's next project.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.