Before Night Falls Review by B Movie Ben (4 Stars) | MatchFlick
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MatchFlick Member Reviews
Before Night Falls
2 reviews

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Movie Details

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Directed By
Julian Schnabel

Written By:
Julian Schnabel, Lazaro Gomez Carilles, Cunningham O'Keefe

Cast:
Javier Bardem, Olivier Martinez, Johnny Depp, Michael Wincott, Sean Penn, Hector Babenco, Najwa Nimri, Andrea Di Stefano, Andrea Di Stefano

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Before Night Falls (2000)
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Movie Review by B Movie Ben
January 13th, 2008

A Bardem classic

Reinaldo Arenas: 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.

It is fascinating that the socialist government in Cuba would take the same position as right-wing religious leaders in our country. I am sure that James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and others like them would not be happy to know that they are no different than Fidel Castro.

This was the story of the poet Reinaldo Arenas, his mistreatment at the hands of the Cuban government, and his eventual escape to America in the Mariel boat lift; and Javier Bardem (Mar adentro, No Country for Old Men) was magnificent in the role that played almost like a documentary. The film was cinema-graphically brilliant, filmed near Cuba in the Yucatan. The soundtrack was equally impressive.

Besides Bardem, it also featured Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy). Depp played a dual role as Bon Bon, a transvestite and was also Lt. Victor, the head of the prison in which Arenas was incarcerated. I am continually amazed at Depp's versatility.

An outstanding Latino cast in a super film. Directed by Julian Schnabel, the Golden Globe winner this year for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

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