In adapting celebrated Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas's
Before Night
Falls, the fiery memoir published shortly after his AIDS-related death in
1990, Julian Schnabel has taken some liberties. Schnabel and his cowriters
toned down its bilious, anti-Castro tone, rearranged events, invented
characters and trimmed most of the book's graphic sex scenes. Yet the figure
of Arenas still springs full-blown from this powerful film, thanks largely to
the filmmakers use of Arenas's own writing, and an incredible performance from
Javier Bardem. Cuba, 1943: Arenas is born dirt poor to a beautiful mother
(Olatz Lopez Garmendia) and a waywa...
Released:
2000
Rated:
R
Length:
126 mins