By Max Jacobson. Las
Vegas Sun. March 02, 2001
"Before Night Falls" is the sophomore effort of the
artist-turned-film director Julian Schnabel. The film represents a quantum leap
from his initial effort, "Basquiat," a colorfully insubstantial film
about a street artist. This is a mature and polished work, one that resonates
long after you leave the theater.
It's a comprehensive biopic that chronicles the life of Cuban author
Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem), set against the pastiche of revolutionary Cuba.
Every frame is filled with color and rhythm; the visual acuity of the director
is never in doubt. The story, though, is as much about Arenas' persecution as a
homosexual as it is about his art.
Persistent themes such as poverty, censorship, artistic freedom and freedom
of sexual expression echo throughout the film, like ripples of water on a fetid
pond.
Bardem, as Arenas, carries the film, and it's no accident that he has been
nominated for Best Actor by the Academy this year. He may remind you of an
Iberian Robert Downey Jr., and his performance, a combination of Spanish and
English, is a real tour de force. He has a vulnerable quality, but above all, he
is an actor who reeks of determination. And because of the broad sweep of years
the film spans, he is called upon to undergo a variety of sweeping changes.
The story opens when Arenas is a child in the '50s, the son of an
unfortunate mother who has been abandoned by an itinerant husband. Soon the
family discovers the young Arenas has a gift for self expression, and later in
1958 he leaves home to the rebels.
Castro, an all too real eminence grise in green fatigues, appears in clips
throughout the film. As he rides triumphantly into Havana, the almost
20-year-old Reinaldo has been accepted into the University of Havana, where his
writing talents blossom. The year is 1962.
Soon he publishes his first novel, "Singing From The Well,"
winning an Honorable Mention in a contest for young writers and attracting the
attention of literati all over Cuba. This is also the time, however, when he
discovers his sexuality. Arenas is seduced by a dynamic bisexual named Pepe
Malas (Andrea Di Stefano), and soon falls into a crowd dominated by gay men.
Things go relatively well for him, but during the late '60s the Cuban
government cracks down viciously on homosexuals and Arenas becomes an
undesirable who runs afoul of the law. First he gets in trouble when he has his
latest novel, "Hallucinations," smuggled out of Cuba.
Then in 1973 after an altercation on a public beach, Arenas' life turns into
a nightmare, after he is falsely accused of molesting a pair of teenage thugs.
From there it is a slow descent into the maelstrom. Arenas is first confined
to the dreaded El Morro prison, where he is held in solitary confinement until
one of the prison officers (effectively played by the chameleonic Johnny Depp,
who plays a dual role as a transsexual Arenas meets in prison) gets him to
denounce his writing and Castro.
And later in 1980 when Castro permits homosexuals, mental patients and
criminals to leave Cuba in small boats, Arenas makes his way to the United
States, where he leads the life of an exile and eventually dies of AIDS. "Before
Night Falls," published in 1993, was his autobiography and the last of his
20 books.
This isn't always an easy film to watch, but it has a terrible beauty and
powerful energy. Early in the film when Arenas is received by an iring host,
he is warned that, "Beauty can't be controlled, so it must disappear."
That is largely what we see happen in Cuba, as the story slowly unfolds.
The film is never more effective that when Bardem reads (in English) prose
written by Arenas, beautifully evocative stuff that vibrates to the base of your
spine. "Before Night Falls" won't be everyone's cup of tea, though,
because graphic depictions of gay life are so central to the story's theme.
But before Arenas is depicted as a homosexual or a writer, it is his
humanity we confront, his struggle to breathe clear, clean air. Because of that,
"Before Night Falls" must be considered, like any art of true
importance, a work of universal relevance.
'Before Night Falls'
Grade: ****
Starring: Javier Bardem, Olivier
Martinez, Andrea Di Stefano and Johnny Depp.
Screenplay: Cunningham O'Keefe,
Lazaro Gomez Carilles and Julian Schnabel.
Director: Julian Schnabel.
Rated:
R for strong sexual content, some language and brief violence.
Running time:
143 minutes.
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