Before Night Falls
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Julian Schnabel
Olatz Lopez Garmendia
Giovani Florido
Loló Navarro
Sebastián Silva
Carmen Beato
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1943, three-month-old Reinaldo Arenas, abandoned by his father, is taken by his mother to her parents' home in Cuba's Oriente province. As a young boy, Reinaldo lives a life of "absolute poverty and freedom," and develops a love of nature, especially the trees, which he believes have a secret life, and the rain, which envelops the countryside. One day, Reinaldo is approached by a handsome stranger, who gives him two pesos, and when his mother throws rocks at the man, Reinaldo deduces that he is his father. Reinaldo never sees his father again and continues living with his taciturn grandfather, powerful grandmother and unhappy aunts. At school, Reinaldo shows a great gift for poetry, and even carves poems into the trees on his family's farm. When his teacher informs his grandfather of Reinaldo's talents, the infuriated old man chops down one of Reinaldo's trees and moves the family to the town of Holguín, where he opens a grocery store. In 1958, Reinaldo and his best friend Carlos decide to run away from home and join Fidel Castro's guerrillas in their attempt to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista. Before they leave, Carlos dares Reinaldo have sex with prostitute Lolin, but only by thinking of Carlos is Reinaldo able to perform. Later that night, Reinaldo runs away, but Carlos is too afraid to join him. Alone, Reinaldo walks along a country road until the next day, when he is picked up by a peasant named Cuco Sanchez. When Reinaldo admits that he is going to Velasco to join the rebels, Sanchez tells him that the guerrillas are no longer there and orders him to return home. After Castro gains control of Cuba, the peasants believe that life will soon be better for everyone. By 1964, Reinaldo has moved to Havana and begun studying at a state-run college for agricultural accountants. Reinaldo has not forgotten his love of writing, however, and when he enters the National Library's Young Writer's Contest, a moving excerpt from his novel in progress convinces librarian María Teresa Freye de Andrade and influential writers Herbeto Zorilla Ochoa and Virgilio Piñera to hire him to work at the library. Reinaldo is thrilled to be surrounded by so many books, and one day after work, meets the charismatic Pepe Malas. Although Reinaldo is aware of his own homosexuality, he at first repulses the bisexual Pepe's advances, but soon falls in love with him. Pepe finds Reinaldo an old typewriter and a small apartment, and Reinaldo devotes himself to finishing his first novel, Celestina antes del alba ( Singing from the Well ). Reinaldo submits his manuscript to the writers' union contest, then spends an evening out with Pepe. Reinaldo is deeply hurt when Pepe ignores him to pursue a woman, and leaves to spend the night with another friend, Tomas Diego. Shortly after, Reinaldo is reading on a beach when he is approached by a swimmer, Lázaro Gómez Carriles, although the stunningly handsome young man violently rejects Reinaldo's advances. Reinaldo is cheered, however, when his novel wins honorable mention in the contest, and he is introduced to renowned writer José Lezama Lima. Believing in Reinaldo's talent, Piñera helps him to edit his book and soon it is published in Cuba to great acclaim. As the 1960s continue, Reinaldo and his friends, including the Abreu brothers, enjoy the sexual revolution that young people throughout Cuba are participating in despite the political repression of Castro's government. Eventually Reinaldo and his friends begin to see sex as a weapon with which to fight the regime that persecutes homosexuals, artists and intellectuals, although not all of their compatriots can withstand the pressure. After Zorilla Ochoa is arrested and forced to make a televised confession, renouncing his friends and his writings, his wife commits suicide, and Reinaldo himself experiences more persecution. Lezama Lima arranges for Reinaldo to meet his friends, Jorge and Margarita Camacho, who are soon to return to France after visiting Cuba. The Camachos, fans of Reinaldo's writing, agree to smuggle out his next book, El mundo alucinante ( Hallucinations ), which he has been unable to publish in Cuba. Later, on 26 October 1974, Reinaldo and Pepe lounge on the beach with two young men in their late teens, and after Pepe has a temper tantrum that distracts Reinaldo, the two youths steal Reinaldo's swim fins. Reinaldo reports the theft and is horrified when the thieves accuse him of molesting them. Reinaldo is jailed but takes advantage of the loose security to slip out an unlocked door. He then attempts to swim to Florida in an inner tube, but fails, and slashes his wrists in a deserted beach house. After he recovers from his unsuccessful suicide attempt, Reinaldo hides in Havana's Lenin Park, and is aided by his friend, Juan Abreu, who brings him food and money. Reinaldo is captured eventually and taken to the notorious El Morro Castle prison, where he is incarcerated not as a political prisoner but a suspected rapist, murderer and CIA agent. Reinaldo's reputation as a writer spreads throughout the prison, however, and soon he amasses a fortune in cigarettes by writing letters for other inmates. Using his cigarettes to buy paper and pencils, Reinaldo completes another novel and befriends Bon Bon, a glamorous transvestite, who smuggles the manuscript out of the prison by hiding it in his rectum and passing it to visitors. Reinaldo's scheme is uncovered, however, and he is punished by being held in a tiny, filthy cell without any contact. When he is dragged out, Reinaldo is taken to see Lt. Victor, and although Reinaldo distracts himself by fantasizing about the attractive officer, Victor terrorizes him into making a confession renouncing his former life. After his release, Reinaldo goes to live with Blanca Romero, a friend, and helps her to sell off the contents of a walled-up convent next to her apartment building. At Blanca's, Reinaldo again meets Lázaro and the two become devoted friends. Some of Blanca's compatriots scheme to escape Cuba in a hot-air balloon, but the balloon is stolen by Pepe, who dies when it crashes to the ground. Later, in 1980, after Lázaro is able to leave Cuba in an exodus of people claiming asylum at the Peruvian embassy, Reinaldo learns that Castro has agreed to let criminals, homosexuals and the mentally insane leave Cuba. Soon Reinaldo and Lázaro are reunited in New York, where they are overwhelmed with happiness at their freedom. Reinaldo continues to write but remains poor despite receiving critical acclaim, and when he falls ill with AIDS, cannot receive proper medical attention because he does not have insurance. Unable to continue working, Reinaldo decides to kill himself, and after telling Lázaro that he is the most "authentic" boy he has ever met, makes him promise that he will not awaken in a hospital. Lázaro reluctantly agrees, and after Reinaldo falls asleep from an overdose of pills, his loyal friend smothers him with a plastic bag.
Director
Julian Schnabel
Cast
Olatz Lopez Garmendia
Giovani Florido
Loló Navarro
Sebastián Silva
Carmen Beato
Cy Schnabel
Olmo Schnabel
Vito Maria Schnabel
Pedro Armendariz
Diego Luna
Lia Chapman
Sean Penn
Jerzy Skolimowski
Aquiles Benites
Eva Piaskowska
Javier Bardem
Patricia Reyes Spíndola
Michael Wincott
Hector Babenco
Andrea Di Stefano
Marlene Díaz
Olga Borayo
Santiago Magill
Manolo García
Lola Schnabel
Ofelia Medina
Lois Barragan
Eduardo Antonio
Stella Schnabel
Olivier Martinez
Manuel González
Maurice Compte
Claudette Maillé
John Ortiz
Vincent Laresca
Rene Rivera
Chanel Puertas
Manolo Rivero
Nemo
Andrea Fassler
Magda
Julian Bucio
Jorge Zaráte
Najwa Nimri
Francisco Gatorno
Marisol Padilla Sanchez
Jorge Zamora
Noel Medina
Jorge Zepeda
Julyan Diaz
Eduardo Arroyuelo
Antonio Zavala
Eloy Ganuza
Khotan
Rene Pereira
Abel Woolrich
Mario Oliver
Robertico Valdez
Johnny Depp
Claudio Osoria
Alfredo Villa
Diahnne Dèa
Caridad Martinez
Zulema Cruz
Annie Gil
Filiberto Estrella
Juan Cristobal Murillo
Filiberto Hebra
Matthías Ehrenberg
Jack Schnabel
Esther Schanbel
Xavier Domingo
Eric Springer
Jimmy Nugent
Crew
Walter Adee
Alfredo Aguilar
Dante Aguilar
Mario Alberto Aguilar
Pedro Alanís
Luis Antonio Alegría
Sean Alexander
Efraín Alfaro Ramírez
Juan Manuel Alvarez
Edgar Ambriz
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Maite Argüelles
Alejandro Arroyo Labra
Ernesto Avila Gutiérrez
K. C. Bailey
Ana Ballesteros
Randall Balsmeyer
David Baron
Dennis Bastian
Joanie Bauert
Israel Becerril
Claudia Becker
E. Benitez
Michael Berenbaum
Guillermo Bermúdez
Andy Bernard
David F. Bianculli
Liza Bigger
Alfredo Biteri
Glenn Blachnik
John T. Bobick
Juana Bocanegra Colín
Ralph Brandafino
Keri Bruno
Juan Bryan
Julián Bucio
John J. Buckmad
Mark Burchard
Carter Burwell
Allan Byer
Sandra Cabriada Morales
Jacqueline Campbell
Virginia Campos Ch.
Deborah Canfield
Phil Canfield
T. Kelly Canfield
L. A. Carton Iv
Chuck Casey
Flavio Castilleros
Hortensia Castro
Joe Cazan
Adrián Cervantes
Lázaro Cervantes Aguilar
Enrique Cetina Burgos
Kam Chan
Sylvie Chesneau
Jimmy Clark
Craig Cobb
David J. Conelli
Marco Polo Constandze
Fernando Coria
Martin Corkidi
Adela Cortázar
Joe Cortese
Kelley Cribben
José Cruz Garduño
Byron Crystal
Nicholas Cupkovic
Joe Dapello, Schreck Rose & Dapello
Robyn J. Davis
Andy Day
José De Jesús Macías
José De Jesús Macías
Rodrigo De La Cruz
Juan De La Rosa
Humberto Delgado
José Delgado
Joseph Donohue Iii
Presendieu Jean Edouard
Matthías Ehrenberg
Matthías Ehrenberg
Javier Enríquez
Johan Esbensen
Antonio Escobar
Juan José Espinosa
José A. Fajardo
Michael Farrow
Jill Fassalori
Mariestela Fernández
Robert Fernandez
Gabriela Fernández Suárez
Pedro Ferrez Valiente
Luis Figueroa
Melanio Filiberto Hebra
John Finn
Ofelia Flores Cárdenas
Mike Fradianni
Laurie Freedman
Florian Fricke
Pablo García
Adán García
Manolo García
Miguel Angel García
Ariel García Espinosa Raymat
Raúl García Esquivel
David García Hernández
Juan Pablo García Tames
Sergio García Terrazas
Héctor Gil
Daniel Daza Gómez
Lázaro Gómez Carriles
Judi Goodman
Susan Goulder
Jonathan Graham
Rodolfo Granados
Xavier Pérez Grobet
Jorge Guerrero
Giselle Gurza
Giselle Gurza
Yvette Gurza
Richard Guterding
Zeferino Gutiérrez Hernández
Anne Haywood
Melanio Filiberto Hebra
Fred Heid
Bob Hein
Jonás Hendrix
Josefina Hernández
Pedro Hernández
Humberto Herrera Rodríguez
Sean Hogan
Lys Hopper
Dennis Horwath Vázquez
Antonio Huerta
Mike Hunold
Alejandro Iturriaga
Susan Jacobs
Pamela Jaeckle
Kenton Jakub
Borys Jarymovych
César Jiménez Rodríguez
Steve Kasow
Todd Kasow
James F. Kelly
Frank Kern
Jon Kilik
Jon Kilik
Jon Kilik
Michael Kingsley
Lauren Klain
Robert H. Klatt
Gordon Krause
Christopher Lagunes Villavencio
Albert Lasser
Ernesto Lecuona
Wayne T. Leonard
Anthony Lettich
Geof Lipman
Marissa Littlefield
Patrice Canfield Longo
Roberto Lopez
Sandra López
Olatz Lopez Garmendia
Olatz Lopez Garmendia
Fernando López Urquijo
David F. Lowry
Gerard Lowry
Jerry Lowry
Martin Lowry
Susana Loyo
Ana Lozano
Gloria "pekas" Lozano
María De Jesús Luna
Gabriel Luna De La Fuente
Amy Lynn
Michelle Macirella
Scott Maguire
Gustav Mahler
Eduardo Marquez Acevedo
Adolfo Cruz Martínez
Eniac Martínez
Isabel Martínez
Pedro Neri Martínez
Caridad Martínez Menocal
Miguel Matamoros
Glenn Mazzilo
Jeff Mazzola
John Mcnay
Sylvia Menno
Faustino Miro
Michael G. Mooradian
Beny More
Francisco Moreno Morales
Juan Manuel Moreno Morales
Ennio Morricone
Regis J. Mullaney
Carlos Munguía
Antonio Muñohierro
Betsy Nagler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Actor
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The acting and crew credits for this film appear at the end of the picture, and the first time the actors are listed, without character names, Javier Bardem, Olivier Martinez and Andrea Di Stefano receive individual title cards. When the actors are credited with their characters names, they are listed in order of appearance. An end credit dedicates the picture to Lázaro Gómez Carriles, one of the picture's three screenwriters and Reinaldo Arenas' longtime companion. The end credits are seen over footage from the 1960 short film entitled PM (Journal), written and directed by Orlando Jiménez Leal and Saba Cabrera, which was banned in Cuba in 1961. One of the end titles notes that archival footage was obtained courtesy of National Geographic Television; "The Other Cuba," Orlando Leal; "Havana," Zoila Estrada; Educational & Television Films, LTD; and Best Shot Stock Footage.
Voice-over narration by Javier Bardem, as his character "Reinaldo Arenas," is heard intermittently throughout the film. Some portions of Reinaldo's narration, as well as some dialogue, is in Spanish, with English subtitles. Much of the narration is taken directly from Arenas' posthumously published memoir Before Night Falls. As reported in interviews with director Julian Schnabel, the picture is also based on several of Arenas' novels, including El mundo alucienante (Hallucinations), and poems, such as "The Parade Begins" and "The Parade Ends." Portions of these works are directly quoted in the film, some in Spanish with English subtitles, and others in English. The sequence during which Arenas is interviewed in New York is based on an actual interview with Arenas conducted by Jana Bokova for her BBC television documentary Havana.
As noted in the film, Cuban-born Arenas (1943-1990) was a gifted poet and novelist who spent most of his young adulthood in Havana. Only one of Arenas' books, Celestina antes del alba (Singing in the Well), was published in Cuba during his lifetime; most of his manuscripts were smuggled out of the country and published abroad. When Hallucinations was published in France, as Le monde hallucinanat, it won a National Book Award for Best Foreign Novel of 1969. Persecuted in his native country both for his writing and his homosexuality, Arenas was arrested after being falsely accused of child molestation and imprisoned in El Morro Castle for several years. After his release, Arenas was forced to work in labor camps and kept under close surveillance by Fidel Castro's government. In 1980, Arenas was among the thousands of Cubans permitted by Castro to immigrate to the United States. After briefly living in Miami, Arenas moved to New York, where, despite having contracted AIDS, he continued to write. In 1990, no longer able to work, Arenas committed suicide at the age of 47.
According to a January 19, 2001 Entertainment Weekly article, Schnabel first asked Benicio Del Toro to play Arenas, and cast Spanish actor Javier Bardem as Lázaro Gómez Carriles. After Del Toro turned down the part of Arenas, Schnabel asked Bardem to take the role. Bardem initially refused because he did not speak English and was wary of Arenas's anti-Communist politics, according to a January 15, 2001 Variety article. Bardem did accept the part, however, after intensive English lessons, reading Arenas' books and studying life in Cuba. Bardem not only had to learn English but how to speak Spanish with a Cuban accent. As noted in several reviews, Bardem bears a striking resemblance to Arenas. Olatz Lopez Garmendia, who plays Reinaldo's mother, is Schnabel's wife, and Vito Maria Schnabel, who plays Reinaldo as a teenager, is their son.
According to a June 13, 2001 Time Out article, Schnabel invested $8,000,000 of his own money in the production. The picture was filmed on location in Veracruz and Mérida, Mexico and New York City over a period of approximately 60 days in the fall of 1999. According to the film's official website, scenes set at the notorious El Morro Castle, a 17th century Spanish colonial fortress that was used as a prison in Cuba before being turned into a tourist attraction, were shot at Mexico's San Juan de Ulúa, another Spanish fortress later used as a prison.
Bardem was chosen as the best actor of 2000 by the National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics. He also received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actor. Before Night Falls won the Grand Jury Prize at the International Venice Film Festival and was nominated for several other awards, including the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature. Additionally, the film was selected as one of AFI's top ten films of the year.
Miscellaneous Notes
Voted one of the 10 best films of 2000 by the American Film Institute (AFI).
Winner of the 2000 award for Best Actor (Javier Bardem) from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Winner of the 2000 award for Best Actor (Javier Bardem) from the National Society of Film Critics.
Winner of the Volpi Cup for Best Actor (Javier Bardem) and a Grand Jury Prize (Jullian Schnabel) at the 2000 Venice International Film Festival.
Expanded Release in United States January 12, 2001
Limited Release in United States December 22, 2000
Released in United States 2000
Released in United States 2001
Released in United States June 2001
Released in United States October 2000
Released in United States on Video May 22, 2001
Released in United States September 2000
Released in United States Winter December 22, 2000
Shown at New York Film Festival September 22 - October 9, 2000.
Shown at Rotterdam International Film Festival (On the Waterfront) January 24 - February 4, 2001.
Shown at San Sebastian International Film Festival September 21-30, 2000.
Shown at Sydney Film Festival June 8-22, 2001.
Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentation) September 7-16, 2000.
Shown at Venice International Film Festival (in competition) August 30 - September 9, 2000.
Began shooting August 27, 1999.
Completed shooting November 5, 1999.
Released in United States 2000 (Shown at New York Film Festival September 22 - October 9, 2000.)
Released in United States 2000 (Shown at Venice International Film Festival (in competition) August 30 - September 9, 2000.)
Released in United States 2001 (Shown at Rotterdam International Film Festival (On the Waterfront) January 24 - February 4, 2001.)
Expanded Release in United States January 12, 2001
Released in United States on Video May 22, 2001
Released in United States June 2001 (Shown at Sydney Film Festival June 8-22, 2001.)
Released in United States September 2000 (Shown at San Sebastian International Film Festival September 21-30, 2000.)
Released in United States September 2000 (Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentation) September 7-16, 2000.)
Released in United States October 2000 (Shown at AFI Fest 2000: The American Film Institute Los Angeles International Film Festival October 19-26, 2000.)
Released in United States October 2000 (Shown at AFI/Los Angeles International Film Festival (Special Screening) October 19-26, 2000.)
Limited Release in United States December 22, 2000
Released in United States Winter December 22, 2000
