Before Night Falls Reviews and Ratings


  • TrinityAnderson
    November 19, 2009
    TrinityAnderson
    It has Johnny Depp in it of course I want to see it.
  • jschartrand
    November 2, 2009
    jschartrand
    Malgré sa superbe réalisation, Schnabel peine à conserver notre attention avec cette histoire qui en évoque tant d'autres sans nécessairement se distinguer malgré de beaux moments et de bons interprètes.
  • gultenreiz
    October 31, 2009
    gultenreiz
    Based on Reinaldo Arenas life, a writer that was a supporter of the communist revolution, but later rebelled against it.
    Sounded interesting, but it was not, I found myself frequently drifting, and thinking of anyting else, but the movie. The main reason was the pacing, but not ...( read more)the sole reason. I think the screenplay had a lot of "holes" in it.
    Reinaldo Arenas sexuality takes central stage in this movie, yes was important to the story, but the movie goes on and on about it, and to be honest his "fighting" against the regime was, at least according to what was on the screen, meagre. He rebelled against Castro, ok. In what way was that? Sleeping with as much men as he could, that corresponding with his words. The same idea is found in Orwell's "1984", hm...
    His position is never displayed (joke aside), but only a brief disscusion with a fellow literati, in rest is more or less implied.
    Another aspect that didn't seem to fit was his relationship with his mother. She's a big part of his life, the thing is she's never present or contacted. I didn't understand it and at some point I stop caring.
    Reinaldo had one thing in mind, he was a sybarite, his pleasure came first.
    The movie lacks coherence in story and the characters, or I should say character, because the others are very one dimension-like.
    Javier Bardem brings some sympathy with a strong performance, and Johnny Depp presence was appealing, but couldn't save this movie.
  • kommzumirfolks
    October 27, 2009
    kommzumirfolks
    Linda história. Javier Bardem está maravilhoso, como sempre!
  • almalimon08
    October 22, 2009
    almalimon08
    Creepy! Javier Bardem and Johnny perform well opposite each other! Even though Johnny is in drag!
  • caliecokitty
    September 30, 2009
    caliecokitty
    did not like this movie
  • angelitus90
    September 24, 2009
    angelitus90
    Yo soy ese niño de cara redonda y sucia
    que en cada esquina os molesta
    con su "can you spend one quarter".
  • SirPant
    September 22, 2009
    SirPant
    A beautiful film with a strong message, Julian Schnabel is a great film maker and Javier Bardem is brilliant as Reinaldo Arenas! This is a warning from the past and should be on the curriculum!
  • SageSlowdive
    August 26, 2009
    SageSlowdive
    Bardem deserved the Oscar.
  • MandyDarko
    August 12, 2009
    MandyDarko
    Me gustaron mucho las actuaciones, pero la narración no del todo, por momentos se me hizo muy lenta.
  • Epicouros
    August 7, 2009
    Epicouros
    The story of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas. Raised in the Oriente Province of Cuba in the 1940s, Arenas began his life-long love of the sea and water...
    A cinefil view to a poet ...
  • melbrakel
    July 23, 2009
    melbrakel
    "Leonardo da Vinci was homosexual, so was Michelangelo, Socrates, Shakespeare, and almost every other figure that has formed what we have come to understand as beauty."

    A very powerful film, artistically directed by Julian Schnabel, which follows the life of Cuban poet an...( read more)d novelist Reinaldo Arenas - all the way from his childhood to his death at the age of 45. After all the hardships Arenas suffers under the oppressive rule of Fidel Castro, it is a tragedy that what takes his life in the end is AIDS.

    Excellent performances from all the cast, and showcasing some of Arenas' actual literary work, this film is definitely worth a watch - whether people want to learn more about his life, or about the lives of those who lived in Cuba during the rule of Castro. The film is 2 hours long, and sometimes it becomes difficult to keep up with who the other characters are, as it spans across a lifetime, but it is generally very well done - and I believe that it would have been very different if directed by someone other than Schnabel. He depicts the harsh realities of Arenas' life without embellishing any of the facts, and this makes it all the more gripping.

    It is probably not a film I would watch again, but I would encourage people to at least give it a single viewing.

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    Also worth a watch for the small but memorable appearance of Johnny Depp as Bon Bon and Lieutenant Victor. :)

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  • pooglywoogly
    June 29, 2009
    pooglywoogly
    johnny depp in drag? this i gotta see
  • exureimundo
    June 20, 2009
    exureimundo
    I liked this so much that I read every book by Arenas in English available... yes, every one of them. Amazing performance by Javier Bardem and crazy cameo by Johnny Depp!
  • coolpenguin2009
    May 20, 2009
    coolpenguin2009
    Great acting; gives an insight to homosexuality in Cuba with some added history on a famous writer. A must watch film!
  • root2branches2
    April 6, 2009
    root2branches2
    Pros. = Beautiful cinematography (like other Schnabel movie, Le Scaphandre et le Papillon), life of a gay man on early era of Cuban revolution was interesting, I didn't know how horrible it was, Like his other major movie, I like the poetic filming of some scenes. I have to retur...( read more)n the movie and didn't see it on a relaxed condition. I have to check it again in few months.
    Cons. = All characters speak English with a heavy Spanish accent, which is obviously unrealistic for Cuba. That might not be a very important issue but it was really annoying, I believe the movie was unnecessarily long (3hours), nothing much happened for the most part of the film, the pace was really slow and again linear story-telling of a biography is among the most common cliche styles.
  • ahhh1989
    March 31, 2009
    ahhh1989
    Excellent film, brilliant acting, and wonderful cinematography. Very depressing, but really quite heartfelt. I dug it!
  • bvrnz
    March 16, 2009
    bvrnz
    Episodic look at the life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas (1943-1990), from his childhood in Oriente province to his death in New York City. He joins Castro's rebels. By 1964, he is in Havana. He meets the wealthy Pepe, an early lover; a love-hate relationship lasts f...( read more)or years. Openly gay behavior is a way to spite the government. His writing and homosexuality get him into trouble: he spends two years in prison, writing letters for other inmates and smuggling out a novel. He befriends Lázaro Gomes Garriles, with whom he lives stateless and in poverty in Manhattan after leaving Cuba in the Mariel boat-lift. When asked why he writes, he replies cheerfully, "Revenge."
  • bobi3481
    February 24, 2009
    bobi3481
    Love him in this one...great role!!
  • Nenebelle
    February 17, 2009
    Nenebelle
    Recommended by 76Majikat.
  • 76Majikat
    February 17, 2009
    76Majikat
    Quite a difficult one to rate, as the acting was superb, whilst the film was long and drawn out. Great narration throughout by Javier Bardem, which worked well and he, as always was very impressive.

    The story of Reinaldo Arenas? life is certainly an interesting one, but the f...( read more)ilm does take some perseverance.

    A very small role here for Johnny Depp and an even smaller (almost unrecognisable) role for Sean Penn.
  • whitestar6
    January 23, 2009
    whitestar6
    I only watched the first 20 minutes and didn't like it.
  • glomer4
    December 27, 2008
    glomer4
    Hey boys and girls if you have the change to watch it please do it, you wont regret, is excellent
  • crystalzip2002
    December 14, 2008
    crystalzip2002
    different. really good though even if its gay.
  • malacaynomuerto
    December 1, 2008
    malacaynomuerto
    Descubrir cosas por medio del cine como a Reinaldo Arenas es maravilloso.
    Un peli con grandes actores y grandes actuaciones,
    De seguro esta es una historia que no se olvidara fácilmente.
    Azul verde
  • melupoli48
    November 28, 2008
    melupoli48
    who would miss Johnny dressed up as a ...xD anyway bardem is in one of his best achieved perfomances..really woth a watch
  • Dracula787
    October 31, 2008
    Dracula787
    Julian Schnabel?s second film, Before Night Falls is the story of the openly gay Cuban novelist Reinaldo Arenas. Arenas faced horrible persecution despite his whole life; it?s a story worth telling but this movie screws up in a critical way: it has no idea how to handle the char...( read more)acter?s use of language. I think the director wanted the film to be in the character?s original Spanish, but the producers wanted it to be in English; it seems like the solution they settled on was to have half the film in English, but to randomly have it switch to subtitled Spanish with no rhyme or reason every once in a while, what?s worse, everyone speaking English does so in Cuban accents that are really thick and hard to understand. They should have either had the whole movie in subtitled Spanish or they should have had the whole thing in accent-neutral English, the compromise they choose meant it was neither easy to watch or authentic, it?s the worst of both worlds. Schnabel clearly seems to have realized he made a mistake, because he went to great lengths to film his next film, The Diving Bell and Butterfly, in setting appropriate French the whole way through. That major peeve aside this is all right, Javier Bardem gives a great performance and the story is powerful.
  • JaneDoeNili
    October 14, 2008
    JaneDoeNili
    sorry, could't even finish. I'd rather watch love, actually for the 50th time.
  • elinbergman
    October 5, 2008
    elinbergman
    Very good and interesting story.
  • Jungian
    September 30, 2008
    Jungian
    an interesting but fairly run-of-the-mill biopic. it seems to only scrape the surface of the life of reinaldo's life. the cameos from depp and penn are almost laughable.
  • alphabetsandnumerals
    September 30, 2008
    alphabetsandnumerals
    one of the best biopics imo
  • hitandrunfacetofacedreams
    September 26, 2008
    hitandrunfacetofacedreams
    Incredible. That's sad,man. If you don't want to kill yourself after that...That's hard.
  • bgodar
    September 22, 2008
    bgodar
    Beautiful Schnabel moments, like the balloon flight, but I never connected emotionally to Bardem's character, and at times the history of the story were hard to follow. Paints a vivid picture of the feeling of living inside an oppressive regime.
  • jewnicorn
    September 21, 2008
    jewnicorn
    bardem makes this worth seeing. he really is a remarkable actor. the film itself did not really hold together well for me. some of the cameo's were really just laughable, namely sean penn's. and the dialogue simply did not do the subject matter justice. it was shot rather nicely ...( read more)but was ultimately a very unbalanced film and bardem's performance is it's saving grace.
  • Phonex
    September 19, 2008
    Phonex
    Escritor cubano nacido cerca de Holguín (Aguas Claras), donde creció comiendo tierra junto a su abandonada madre y su abuela que orinaba de pie. Empezó a escribir a los 13 años, aunque la llegada de la Revolución, a la que se sumó como guerrillero, retrasó su vocación hasta 1963,...( read more) cuando ingresó en la Biblioteca Nacional y redactó Celestino antes del alba. Conoció y entabló amistad con Piñera y Lezama Lima. Su libro El mundo alucinante fue prohibido por contrarrevolucionario, y a partir de ese momento y en adelante tuvo que esconder sus manuscritos. Otra vez el mar, que ocultó bajo tierra y en el tejado, fue hallado y destruido, pero lo rehizo tres veces. El ambiente en Cuba se enrarecía: la campaña de la Zafra de los Diez Millones, en la que el escritor fue obligado a contribuir cortando caña en una plantación, y las torturas al poeta disidente Heberto Padilla fueron para Arenas síntomas de su arriesgada situación, que trató de paliar al casarse con la actriz Ingrávida González. En 1973 lo detuvieron por contrarrevolucionario y traicionado en su huida por su amigo Coco Salá, fue conducido al cuartel de Miramar, desde donde trató de salir de la isla en un neumático. Fracasó, como cuando quiso huir por Guantánamo, donde estuvo a punto de ser ametrallado. Durante dos meses se refugió entre la vegetación del Parque Lenin, hasta que la policía lo encerró en el castillo del Morro: dos años entre palizas e intentos de suicidio. Tras perder dos dientes, trabajar como forzado y confesar por escrito para evitar torturas, obtuvo la libertad. En los cinco años siguientes asistió a las muertes de sus amigos Lezama Lima y Piñera, se enamoró del joven Lázaro Gómez y saqueó un convento para sobrevivir. Hasta que se unió a los marielitos y falsificó a mano su pasaporte para convertirse en Reinaldo Arinas y eludir la lista de los que no podían salir del país. En 1980 consiguió huir de Cuba y se trasladó a Miami. Muchos intelectuales le dieron la espalda, y aprendió que un exiliado sin dinero no era nadie. Arenas paseó 10 años su grito por Venezuela, Francia, Portugal, Suecia, Dinamarca y España. En Estados Unidos, donde colaboró en la revista Mariel desde su fundación en 1983 hasta su cierre en 1987, acabó el repaso a su vida que había iniciado 17 años antes en el Parque Lenin. Reynaldo Arenas se suicidó el 7 de diciembre de 1990.
  • beky861
    August 24, 2008
    beky861
    the last hour of this movie
  • adhitr
    August 12, 2008
    adhitr
    Javier Bardem's daring performance as Gay Activist and good directing by Julian Schnabel.
  • MovieManiac415
    August 1, 2008
    MovieManiac415
    This was kind of...ahem, weird. Actually, the best word for this movie was BORING! If Johnny Depp wasn't in this, I would have given thiis half a star...
  • venusgee
    July 27, 2008
    venusgee
    The strong point of this movie is the powerfull performance of Javier Bardem, also I enjoyed the small parts of Johnny Depp and Sean Penn. The film is a bit slow and I was annoyed by the fact that the actors, although most of them are spanish, have to talk english with a bad acce...( read more)nt, this ruins the authenticity.
  • KarlaFreer
    July 13, 2008
    KarlaFreer
    Maybe because it's about a life it's not too interesting, but I think that as a book it's good, but not as a movie.
  • cleighs
    July 13, 2008
    cleighs
    I saw this before Bardem was all the rage and was totally thrown by the fact that Johnny Depp was in it
  • ldanger25
    July 3, 2008
    ldanger25
    one of my fave movies ever. beautiful. heartbreaking. and the rare movie that is as good as the book.
  • JaredsBaby
    June 13, 2008
    JaredsBaby
    This movie was a little weird to me, and was so surprised to see Johnny Depp in this dressed like a woman...but Johnny always looks good no matter what and he is another great actor who makes you belive every role he plays
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    May 30, 2008
    DragonEyeMorrison
    The kind of film you watch to remember why Bardem is a great actor. Also, probably the last good film that Johnny Depp made.

Summary

Before Night Falls Summary