Before Night Falls (film)
Encyclopedia
Before Night Falls is a 2000 film directed by Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....

. The screenplay is based on the autobiography of the same name
Before Night Falls
Before Night Falls is the 1992 autobiography of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, describing his life in Cuba, his time in prison, and his ultimate escape to the United States. It was on The New York Times list of the ten best books of the year 1993...

 of Reinaldo Arenas
Reinaldo Arenas
Reinaldo Arenas was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright who despite his early sympathy for the 1959 revolution, grew critical of and then rebelled against the Cuban government.- Life :...

, which was published in English in 1993. The screenplay was written by Schnabel, Cunningham O'Keefe, and Lázaro Gómez Carriles. The film stars Javier Bardem
Javier Bardem
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...

, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...

, Olivier Martinez
Olivier Martinez
Olivier Martinez is a French film actor. He became known after roles in several French films such as Un, deux, trois, soleil , which garnered him the César Award for "Most Promising Actor", The Horseman on the Roof , and The Chambermaid on the Titanic...

, Andrea Di Stefano
Andrea Di Stefano
Andrea Di Stefano is an Italian actor.Born in Rome, he moved to New York City to study acting at the Actor's Studio. In the U.S. he played in Smile, an independent movie directed by Andrew Hunt....

, Santiago Magill
Santiago Magill
Santiago Magill is a Peruvian actor who participates in soap-opera, TV series and films.-Selected filmography:*Corazón voyeur *Eva del Edén *Amiga .... Mariano...

, and Michael Wincott
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...

.

The film had its world premiere at the 2000 Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival.

Plot

Before Night Falls is based on the autobiography of the same name by Cuban
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

 poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas
Reinaldo Arenas
Reinaldo Arenas was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright who despite his early sympathy for the 1959 revolution, grew critical of and then rebelled against the Cuban government.- Life :...

. In the film, Arenas, who was openly gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

, is born in Oriente in 1943 and raised by his single mother and her parents, who soon move the entire family to Holguín
Holguín
Holguín is a municipality and city, the capital of the Cuban Province of Holguín. It also includes a tourist area, offering beach resorts in the outskirts of the region.-History:...

. After moving to Havana in the sixties to continue his studies, Reinaldo begins to explore his ambitions, as well as his sexuality. After receiving an honorary mention in a writing contest, Arenas is offered the chance to publish his first work. Through his work and friendships with other openly gay men (such as Pepe Malas and Tomas Diego), Arenas manages to find himself.

The political climate in Cuba becomes increasingly dangerous, and in the early seventies Arenas is arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting minors, and for publishing abroad without official consent. In the next decade, Arenas is in and out of prison, attempting and failing to leave the country several times.

In 1980, Arenas finally leaves Cuba for the US, starting a new life with his close friend and lover Lazaro Gomez Carilles. A few years later, Arenas is diagnosed with AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

, and after spending several years suffering, passes away in 1990 with the help of Lazaro.

Cast

  • Javier Bardem
    Javier Bardem
    Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...

     as Reinaldo Arenas
    Reinaldo Arenas
    Reinaldo Arenas was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright who despite his early sympathy for the 1959 revolution, grew critical of and then rebelled against the Cuban government.- Life :...

  • Johnny Depp
    Johnny Depp
    John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...

     as Bon Bon / Lt. Victor
  • Olivier Martinez
    Olivier Martinez
    Olivier Martinez is a French film actor. He became known after roles in several French films such as Un, deux, trois, soleil , which garnered him the César Award for "Most Promising Actor", The Horseman on the Roof , and The Chambermaid on the Titanic...

     as Lazaro Gomez Carilles
  • Andrea Di Stefano
    Andrea Di Stefano
    Andrea Di Stefano is an Italian actor.Born in Rome, he moved to New York City to study acting at the Actor's Studio. In the U.S. he played in Smile, an independent movie directed by Andrew Hunt....

     as Pepe Malas
  • Santiago Magill
    Santiago Magill
    Santiago Magill is a Peruvian actor who participates in soap-opera, TV series and films.-Selected filmography:*Corazón voyeur *Eva del Edén *Amiga .... Mariano...

     as Tomas Diego
  • John Ortiz
    John Ortiz
    John Ortiz is an American actor and Artistic Director/Co-Founder of LAByrinth Theater Company.-Career:In 1993, John made his film debut as Al Pacino’s young cousin ‘Guajiro’ in Carlito’s Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad,...

     as Juann Abreu
  • Héctor Babenco
    Hector Babenco
    Héctor Eduardo Babenco is an Argentine-born Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor.He has worked in several countries including Argentina, Brazil and the United States....

     as Virgilio Pinera
  • Manuel González as Jose Lezama Lima
  • Francisco Gattorno
    Francisco Gattorno
    Francisco Alejandro Gattorno Sánchez , better known in the show business world plainly as Francisco Gattorno, is a Cuban actor. He owns property in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida.-Biography:...

     as Jorge Camacho
  • Marisol Padilla Sánchez
    Marisol Padilla Sánchez
    Marisol Padilla Sánchez is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films L. A. Confidential and Traffic. She usually portrays Hispanic characters.-Filmography:-External links:...

     as Margarita Camacho
  • Michael Wincott
    Michael Wincott
    Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...

     as Herberto Zorilla Ochoa
  • Sean Penn
    Sean Penn
    Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

     as Cuco Sanchez
  • Najwa Nimri
    Najwa Nimri
    Najwa Nimri Urrutikoetxea is a Spanish actress and singer of Jordanian descent.-Early life:...

     as Fina Zorilla Ochoa
  • Diego Luna
    Diego Luna
    Diego Luna is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también, and supporting roles in American films. He is also known for his roles in Rudo y Cursi and Milk. Luna also had minor roles in Frida and Before Night Falls...

     as Carlos
  • Cy and Olmo Schnabel as Reinaldo's classmates
  • Vito Maria Schnabel as Teenage Reinaldo
  • Lola Schnabel as Girl with keys
  • Stella Schnabel as Valeria
  • Jack and Esther G. Schnabel as Mr. and Mrs. Greenberg
  • Olatz López Garmendia as Mrs. Arenas

Production

Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....

 got the idea of making Before Night Falls immediately after making Basquiat, however it took four years to actually produce the film.

Bardem spent one-and-a-half months in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 with Arenas's surviving partner, Lazaro Gomez Carilles, taking two hours a day to study how Arenas walked and talked.

Awards

  • 2000: Venice International Film Festival: Silver Lion – Jury's special award: Julian Schnabel
    Julian Schnabel
    Julian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....

  • 2000: Venice International Film Festival: Coppa Volpi (Best Actor): Javier Bardem
    Javier Bardem
    Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...

  • 2000
    National Board of Review Awards 2000
    The 72nd National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2000, were announced on 6 December 2000 and given on 16 January 2001.-Top 10 films:#Quills#Traffic#Croupier#You Can Count on Me#Billy Elliot...

    : National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
    National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
    An incomplete list of the winners of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actor :-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...

    :Best Actor: Javier Bardem
    Javier Bardem
    Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...

  • 2000
    National Board of Review Awards 2000
    The 72nd National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2000, were announced on 6 December 2000 and given on 16 January 2001.-Top 10 films:#Quills#Traffic#Croupier#You Can Count on Me#Billy Elliot...

    : National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
    National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
    The following is a list of the Top-10 films chosen annually by the National Board of Review, beginning in 1929. From 1968 till 2005, 29 times the NBR chose the film that would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Picture as Best Film...

  • 2000
    National Board of Review Awards 2000
    The 72nd National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2000, were announced on 6 December 2000 and given on 16 January 2001.-Top 10 films:#Quills#Traffic#Croupier#You Can Count on Me#Billy Elliot...

    : National Board of Review Awards
    National Board of Review Awards 2000
    The 72nd National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2000, were announced on 6 December 2000 and given on 16 January 2001.-Top 10 films:#Quills#Traffic#Croupier#You Can Count on Me#Billy Elliot...

    : Freedom of Expression
    National Board of Review Awards 2000
    The 72nd National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2000, were announced on 6 December 2000 and given on 16 January 2001.-Top 10 films:#Quills#Traffic#Croupier#You Can Count on Me#Billy Elliot...

  • 2000: Political Film Society Award for Exposé
    Political Film Society Award for Exposé
    The Political Film Society Award for exposé is given out each year to a film that has an investigative depth into a subject matter and often exposes surprising information on the subject. This award has been handed out by the Society since 1988...

  • 2000
    Independent Spirit Awards 2000
    The 16th Independent Spirit Awards, given by Film Independent in 2001, honored the best in film for 2000.-Best Actor: Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls*Adrien Brody - Restaurant*Billy Crudup - Jesus' Son*Hill Harper - The Visit...

    : Independent Spirit Awards
    Independent Spirit Awards 2000
    The 16th Independent Spirit Awards, given by Film Independent in 2001, honored the best in film for 2000.-Best Actor: Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls*Adrien Brody - Restaurant*Billy Crudup - Jesus' Son*Hill Harper - The Visit...

    : Best Actor: Javier Bardem
    Javier Bardem
    Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...

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