Before Night Falls
About the Film
Based on his own memoir, the film traces the life of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas — from a poor rural childhood, through his flowering as a writer in the early days of Castro’s revolution, to his persecution as both a dissident and an openly gay man. Celebrated abroad but banned and imprisoned at home, Arenas endures the brutal Morro Castle prison and years of official silencing.
Eventually escaping to the United States in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, Arenas finds freedom but also exile, poverty and, finally, illness. Julian Schnabel’s lyrical biopic, anchored by Javier Bardem’s Oscar-nominated performance, is a portrait of the artist’s irrepressible spirit under oppression.
Plot synopsis by johnny-depp.org.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp appears in two contrasting cameo roles. As “Bon Bon,” a flamboyant transvestite fellow prisoner, he smuggles Arenas’s manuscripts out of jail hidden on his body; and as the coldly menacing Lieutenant Victor, the military interrogator, he embodies the regime’s cruelty. The dual turn — angel and oppressor — was a favour to director Julian Schnabel and a striking demonstration of Depp’s range in just a few scenes.
Cast & Crew
Cast
Reinaldo ArenasJavier Bardem
Lazaro Gomez CarrilesOlivier Martinez
Bon Bon / Lt. VictorJohnny Depp
Pepe MalasAndrea Di Stefano
Cuco SanchezSean Penn
Herberto Zorilla OchoaMichael Wincott
Crew
DirectorJulian Schnabel
ScreenplayJulian Schnabel, Cunningham O’Keefe & Lázaro Gómez Carriles
Based on the memoir byReinaldo Arenas
MusicCarter Burwell
CinematographyXavier Pérez Grobet & Guillermo Rosas
StudioFine Line Features
Filming Locations
- Veracruz and Mexico City, Mexico
- New York City
More about this film
Trivia
- Javier Bardem earned his first Academy Award nomination for playing Reinaldo Arenas.
- Johnny Depp plays two roles — the transvestite Bon Bon and the interrogator Lieutenant Victor.
- Director Julian Schnabel is also a celebrated painter, which informs the film’s lush visual style.
- Sean Penn also appears in an uncredited cameo.
Awards
- 2001 Academy Award — Best Actor (Javier Bardem), nominated
- 2000 Venice Film Festival — Grand Jury Prize & Best Actor (Bardem) Won
