Before Night Falls (film)

In the film, Arenas is born in Oriente Province, Cuba in 1943 and raised by his single mother and her parents, who soon move the entire family to Holguín. After moving to Havana in the 1960s 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, like Pepe Malas and Tomas Diego, Arenas manages to find himself.

The political climate in Cuba becomes increasingly dangerous, and in the early 1970s Arenas is arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting minors, and for publishing abroad without official consent. He is imprisoned in El Morro Castle where he endures abuse and violence from guards. In the next decade, he is in and out of prison, attempting and failing to leave the country several times.

In 1980, Arenas finally leaves Cuba for the United States during the Mariel Boatlift, starting a new life with his close friend Lazaro Gomez Carriles. A few years later, Arenas is diagnosed with AIDS. In one scene where he is sick in the hospital, a nurse tells Arenas he is going home, to which he delirously replies, "to Cuba?" After spending several years suffering he dies in 1990. At the end of the film, a Spanish and English version of Arenas' poem "Yo soy" is used.

Set within the rise of the Cuban Revolution, the film portrays the subjugation of queer individuals as a means of “correcting” anti-revolutionary behavior. Homosexuality had been formally criminalized in Cuba in the Social Defense Code of 1938, article 490, threatening up to six months in prison.^[5] Inspired by Stalinist principles criminalizing homosexuals, the Popular Socialist Party set forth policies further targeting Cuban homosexuals, including expulsion from schools and targeting artists and intellectuals such as Arenas. Beginning in 1965, gay men and transgender women were included among other detainees deemed “anti-social” for not conforming to revolutionary ideals and were placed in re-education labor camps known as Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Produccion (UMAP) or Military Units to Aid Production.^[6] Men who displayed effeminate behavior were also targeted by the regime for not fitting the hypermasculine standards under the machismo culture of Cuba. Tangible changes in the legal status of homosexuality were not seen until 1979, where the new Penal Code removed the previously imposed article 490.

• Javier Bardem as Reinaldo Arenas
• Olivier Martinez as Lázaro Gómez Carriles
• Johnny Depp as Bon Bon / Lt. Víctor
• Héctor Babenco as Virgilio Piñera
• Andrea Di Stefano as Pepe Malas
• Santiago Magill as Tomás Diego
• John Ortiz as Juan Abreu
• Manuel González as José Lezama Lima
• Francisco Gattorno as Jorge Camacho
• Marisol Padilla Sánchez as Margarita Camacho
• Michael Wincott as Herberto Zorilla Ochoa
• Pedro Armendáriz Jr. as Reinaldo's Grandfather
• Sean Penn as Cuco Sanchez
• Najwa Nimri as Fina Zorilla Ochoa
• Diego Luna 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

Julian Schnabel got the idea of making Before Night Falls immediately after making Basquiat; however, it took four years to actually produce the film.^[7]

Bardem spent one-and-a-half months in New York City with Arenas's best friend, Lazaro Gomez Carriles, taking two hours a day to study how Arenas walked and talked.^[8]

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Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 74% approval rating based on 101 reviews and an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's consensus states: "An impressionistic, fragmented look at Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls' imagery manages to evoke a sense of the writer's artistry, and Bardem's strong performance holds the film together. Finally, a biopic done well."^[9] Metacritic reports an 85 out of 100 rating based on 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[10]

Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, stating, "One is reminded a little of the Marquis de Sade, as portrayed in Quills. It was never simply what they wrote, but that, standing outside convention, taunting the authorities, inhabiting impossible lives, they wrote at all."^[11] Peter Travers from Rolling Stone awarded the film a full five out of five stars, writing, "In uniting to honor Arenas, Bardem and Schnabel create something extraordinary."^[12]

Box office

The film opened in eight venues on December 22, 2000, and earned $85,230 in its first weekend, ranking #34 in the North American box office.^[13] The film received a wide release on February 23, 2001.^[14]

Before Night Falls grossed $4.2 million in the US and $4.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $8.5 million^[3] from an estimated $20 million budget.^[2]

Awards and nominations

At the 73rd Academy Awards (2001), Javier Bardem became the first Spanish actor to be nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

More information Award, Category ...

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
Academy Awards[15]	Best Actor	Javier Bardem	Nominated
ALMA Awards	Outstanding Feature Film		Nominated
	Outstanding Latino Cast in a Feature Film		Nominated
	Outstanding Soundtrack or Compilation for Television and Film		Nominated
American Film Institute Awards[16]	Top 10 Movies of the Year		Won
Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Javier Bardem	Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards[17]	Best Actor		2nd Place
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[18]	Best Actor		Nominated
Chlotrudis Awards[19]	Best Actor		Nominated
GLAAD Media Awards	Outstanding Film – Limited Release		Nominated
Golden Globe Awards[20]	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Javier Bardem	Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards[21]	Best Feature		Nominated
	Best Director	Julian Schnabel	Nominated
	Best Male Lead	Javier Bardem	Won
	Best Cinematography	Xavier Pérez Grobet and Guillermo Rosas	Nominated
Latin ACE Awards	Cinema – Best Actor	Javier Bardem	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards[22]	Best Actor		Runner-up
National Board of Review Awards[23]	Top 10 Films		6th Place
	Best Actor	Javier Bardem	Won
	Freedom of Expression		Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards[24]	Best Actor	Javier Bardem	Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards[25]	Best Actor		Runner-up
Online Film & Television Association Awards[26]	Best Actor		Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role		Nominated
Political Film Society Awards	Exposé		Won
	Human Rights		Nominated
Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards	Best Foreign Actor	Javier Bardem	Nominated
SESC Film Festival	Best Foreign Actor (Audience Award)		Won
	Best Foreign Actor (Critics Award)		Won
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards[27]	Best Actor		Won[a]
Venice International Film Festival[28]	Golden Lion	Julian Schnabel	Nominated
	Grand Jury Prize		Won
	OCIC Award – Honorable Mention		Won
	Volpi Cup for Best Actor	Javier Bardem	Won
	Rota Soundtrack Award	Carter Burwell	Won
World Soundtrack Awards[29]	Soundtrack Composer of the Year		Nominated
	Best Original Score of the Year		Nominated

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