Before night falls

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Movie
German title Before night falls
Original title Before Night Falls
Country of production United States
original language English , Spanish
Publishing year 2000
length 128 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Julian Schnabel
script Cunningham O'Keefe , Lázaro Gómez Carriles , Julian Schnabel
production Olatz Lopez Garmendia , Jon Kilik , Julian Schnabel
music Carter Burwell
camera Xavier Pérez Grobet , Guillermo Rosas
cut Michael Berenbaum
occupation

Before Night Falls ( German title: Before Night Falls ) is an American film biography from the year 2000 based on the autobiographical novel (1990) by the Cuban writer and poet Reinaldo Arenas , entitled Antes que anochezca (dt. Before Night is ) based and thematizes Arenas' life. The Director led Julian Schnabel , the screenplay written Cunningham O'Keefe , Lazaro Gomez Carriles and Julian Schnabel.

action

The film shows some episodes since Reinaldo Arenas was a child. After his teacher had discovered in him a strong propensity for poetry, Reinaldo wrote his first book as an adult in Havana and was highly praised for it. It is printed and as a further reward he is allowed to work in the library. He meets Pepe, his future friend, and moves in with an acquaintance of his. He considers himself lucky to have a typewriter and can now write faster and more undisturbed. But homosexuality is not the only thing that is criminal in Cuba in the 1970s . All subsequent books are censored and banned. Pornography is the alleged reason, but in the Castro regime it is hardly allowed to be creative in any way because there is a risk that it could turn against the regime. On a sunny day by the sea, Reinaldo gets into an argument with his friend Pepe. This leads to a fight. In the meantime, all their clothes are stolen and Reinaldo decides to report this to the police. The juvenile perpetrators are found not far from the crime scene, but falsely claim that Arenas had sexually molested them in their distress. Arenas is arrested. He uses the guards' carelessness to escape. Another attempt to escape with a car tire that is supposed to bring him across the sea to Florida fails.

He goes into hiding, complains in a letter about the persecution and oppression of his person and hides it under a stone. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested again on charges of homosexuality and espionage. He's taken to a prison in an old fort. Numerous fellow prisoners there ask him to write letters for them. In return he gets cigarettes, which serve as money in prison in order to be able to afford new paper and pens. He then tries to smuggle his stories out with the help of the transvestite Bon Bon. Bon Bon is known for providing an enormous "rectal space" through sexual debauchery to smuggle things out of prison. After a while, Arenas is released and sees his first printed book. He doesn't even have an existence himself. When Fidel Castro decided in 1980 that unwanted people should leave Cuba, Reinaldo Arenas also decided to do so. However, there is a list of people who are not allowed to leave the country. So without further ado, he changes his name in his ID card by adding a small line to Arinas instead of Arenas. This finally works and he emigrates to the USA. His luck doesn't last long there. After living with his non-gay friend Lázaro for a while, he was diagnosed with HIV. Eventually he overdoses pills along with some amounts of alcohol, which are insufficient to kill him. So his friend Lázaro suffocates him with a plastic bag to put an end to his wretched existence.

Reviews

  • David Ansen wrote in Newsweek that the film was expressive and lyrical.
  • James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the viewers were more observers than participants, which dampened the effect of the film. He praised the pictures and the portrayal of Javier Bardem.
  • Lexicon of international film : "Visually brilliant, played convincingly in the main role, the film casts a rather benevolent look at the social conditions in Cuba and focuses on the individual as a victim of the circumstances."

Awards

Javier Bardem was in 2001 for the film awards Oscar , Golden Globe Award , Chicago Film Critics Association Award and Phoenix Film Critics Society Award nomination. He won the National Board of Review Award in 2000 , the Independent Spirit Award in 2001 and the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award .

The film won four prizes at the Venice Film Festival 2000 : Julian Schnabel in two categories, Carter Burwell for the score and Javier Bardem for his role.

In 2001 the film was nominated for the GLAAD Media Award and the ALMA Award (in three categories). It won the Political Film Society Award in one category and was nominated for the same award in another.

Carter Burwell was nominated for the 2001 World Soundtrack Award in two categories.

backgrounds

The film was shot in Mexico and New York. It grossed approximately $ 4.2 million in US cinemas .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Metacritic
  2. ↑ James Berardinelli: on ReelViews
  3. ↑ Before night falls. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used