Before Night Falls (2000)

Director:

Julian Schnabel

Writers:

Cunningham O'Keefe (written by) &
Lázaro Gómez Carriles (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 January 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Episodic look at the life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas (1943-1990), from his childhood...

Plot Keywords:

Novelist | Prison | Persecution | Cuba | Letter

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 11 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Olatz López Garmendia	...	Reinaldo's Mother (as Olatz Lopez Garmendia)
Giovanni Florido	...	Young Reinaldo (as Giovani Florido)
Loló Navarro	...	Reinaldo's Grandmother
Sebastián Silva	...	Reinaldo's Father
Carmen Beato	...	Teacher
Cy Schnabel	...	Smallest School Child (as Cy)
Olmo Schnabel	...	Smallest School Child
Vito Maria Schnabel	...	Teenage Reinaldo
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Reinaldo's Grandfather (as Pedro Armendáriz)
Diego Luna	...	Carlos
Lia Chapman	...	Lolin
Sean Penn	...	Cuco Sanchez
Jerzy Skolimowski	...	Professor
Aquiles Benites	...	Translator
Eva Piaskowska	...	Pretty Blonde Student
Javier Bardem	...	Reinaldo Arenas
Patricia Reyes Spíndola	...	María Teresa Freye de Andrade
Michael Wincott	...	Heberto Zorilla Ochoa
Hector Babenco	...	Virgilio Piñera
Andrea Di Stefano	...	Pepe Malas
Marlene Díaz	...	Woman in car #1
Olga Borayo	...	Woman in car #2
Santiago Magill	...	Tomas Diego
Manolo García	...	Faustino
Lola Schnabel	...	Girl With Keys
Ofelia Medina	...	Landlady
Lois Barragán	...	Woman - UNEAC (as Lois Barragan)
Eduardo Antonio	...	Nightclub Singer
Stella Schnabel	...	Valeria
Olivier Martinez	...	Lazaro Gomez Carilles
Manuel González	...	Jose Lezama Lima (as Manuel Gonzalez)
Maurice Compte	...	Nicolas Abreu
Claudette Maillé	...	Maria Luisa Lima (as Claudette Maille)
John Ortiz	...	Juann Abreu
Vincent Laresca	...	Jose Abreu
Rene Rivera	...	Recruit Driver
Chanel Puertas	...	Blonde on the beach
Manolo Rivero	...	Royal Gay
Nemo	...	Pedro the bus driver
Andrea Fassler	...	French Tourist
Magda	...	Santería Dancer
Julian Bucio	...	Violent Soldier
Jorge Zárate	...	Prosecutor (as Jorge Zaráte)
Najwa Nimri	...	Fina Zorilla Ochoa
Francisco Gattorno	...	Jorge Camacho (as Francisco Gatorno)
Marisol Padilla Sánchez	...	Margarita Camacho (as Marisol Padilla Sanchez)
Jorge Zamora	...	Kid with Kite
Noel Medina	...	Policeman on beach
Jorge Zepeda	...	State Security on beach
Yulian Díaz	...	Teenager #1 (as Julyan Díaz)
Eduardo Arroyuelo	...	Teenager #2
Antonio Zavala	...	Stranger in Lenin Park
Eloy Ganuza	...	State Security in Lenin Park
Khotan	...	Young Man with bird
René Pereyra	...	Antonio (as Rene Pereira)
Abel Woolrich	...	Hungry Inmate
Mario Oliver	...	Gay Inmate
Robertico Valdez	...	Singing Prisoner
Johnny Depp	...	Bon Bon / Lieutenant Victor
Claudio Osoria	...	Guard at El Morro
Alfredo Villa	...	Armando García
Diahnne Abbott	...	Blanca Romero (as Diahnne Déa)
Caridad Martinez	...	Dancer in the convent
Zulema Cruz	...	Zulema
Annie Gil	...	Blanca's Teenage Daughter
Filiberto Estrella	...	Dwarf
Juan Cristóbal Murillo	...	Immigration Officer (as Juan Cristobal Murillo)
Melanio Filiberto Hebra	...	Man at Mariel Harbor (as Filiberto Hebra)
Matthias Ehrenberg	...	Officer at Mariel Harbor (as Matthías Ehrenberg)
Jack Schnabel	...	Mr. Greenberg
Esther G. Schnabel	...	Mrs. Greenberg (as Esther Schnabel)
Xavier Domingo	...	Death
Eric Springer	...	Orderly
Jimmy Nugent	...	Taxi Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Benjamín Benítez	...	Rudy (uncredited)
Fidel Castro	...	Himself (anti-Marielito speech) (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Julian Schnabel

Writing credits
Cunningham O'Keefe		(written by) &
Lázaro Gómez Carriles		(written by) (as Lazaro Gomez Carriles) &
Julian Schnabel		(written by)
Reynaldo Arenas		(memoir "Before Night Falls") (as Reinaldo Arenas)
Jana Bokova		(documentary "Havana")

Produced by
Matthias Ehrenberg	....	associate producer (as Matthías Ehrenberg)
Jon Kilik	....	producer
Olatz López Garmendia	....	executive producer (as Olatz Lopez Garmendia)
Julian Schnabel	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Carter Burwell

Cinematography by
Xavier Pérez Grobet		(director of photography)
Guillermo Rosas		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Michael Berenbaum

Production Design by
Salvador Parra

Art Direction by
Antonio Muño-Hierro		(as Antonio Muñohierro)

Set Decoration by
Laurie Friedman

Costume Design by
María Estela Fernández		(as Mariestela Fernández)

Makeup Department
Virginia Campos	....	hair stylist
Manolo García	....	key hair stylist
Judi Goodman	....	hair stylist
Nicki Ledermann	....	makeup artist
Ana Lozano	....	key makeup artist
Kerrie R. Plant	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Dante Aguilar	....	unit manager: Mexico
Kelley Cribben	....	post-production supervisor
Matthias Ehrenberg	....	unit production manager (as Matthías Ehrenberg)
Pamela Jaeckle	....	unit manager: US
Mike Phillips	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giselle Gurza	....	second second assistant director
Yvette Gurza	....	second second assistant director
Joaquin Silva	....	key second assistant director
Sebastián Silva	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Pedro Alanis Alanis	....	paint foreman (as Pedro Alanis)
Maite Argüelles	....	art department coordinator
Andrew Bernard	....	art director: New York
Adán García	....	on-set painter
Rodolfo Granados	....	sculpture
Jordan Jacobs	....	assistant art director
Pedro Neri Martinez	....	greens foreman
Federico Nava Patiño	....	construction coordinator
Tomas Rodriguez Tovar	....	leadman
Jorge Sainz	....	draftsman
Juan Pablo Garcia Tames	....	set designer
Gabriel Tapia	....	assistant art department coordinator (as Gabriel Tapia Ramirez)
Tatiana Valdéz	....	mural painter
Dennis Horwath Vazquez	....	sign painter
Heidi Ma. Villalobos	....	draftsman (as Heidi Villalobos Maya)
Mirko von Berner	....	on-set decorator
Alexander Wei	....	art department coordinator: New York

Sound Department
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Robert Fernandez	....	sound re-recording mixer
Albert Gasser	....	sound effects editor
Robert Hein	....	supervising sound editor
Kenton Jakub	....	adr editor
George A. Lara	....	foley mixer
Glenn Marullo	....	sound mixer
Steven Simons	....	additional re-recording mixer
David Wahnon	....	assistant sound editor
Christian Wangler	....	sound

Special Effects by
Alejandro Vázquez	....	special effects coordinator: Effeccine

Visual Effects by
Randall Balsmeyer	....	visual effects supervisor
Daniel Leung	....	digital compositing supervisor
Matt McDonald	....	digital effects artist

Camera and Electrical Department
David E. Baron	....	second assistant camera: New York
Marco Polo Constandse	....	video assist operator
Andy Day	....	gaffer: New York
Michael Fradianni	....	electrician
Mauricio Rubinstein	....	additional photographer
Marilou Vetter	....	assistant camera

Casting Department
Byron Crystal	....	extras casting: New York

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mark Burchard	....	wardrobe supervisor: men
Adela Cortázar	....	costume assistant
Lupita Peckinpah	....	wardrobe assistant
Autumn Saville	....	costume shopper: New York

Editorial Department
Craig Cobb	....	associate editor
Samara Levenstein	....	assistant editor
Chris Patterson	....	first assistant editor
Sandra Nash	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Laurie Anderson	....	composer: additional music
Carter Burwell	....	conductor
Carter Burwell	....	orchestrator
Susan Jacobs	....	music supervisor
Steve Kasow	....	assistant music editor
Todd Kasow	....	music editor
Olatz López Garmendia	....	music supervisor (as Olatz Lopez Garmendia)
Dean Parker	....	music copyist
Sandra Park	....	music contractor
Lou Reed	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
David F. Bianculli	....	production assistant
Keri Bruno	....	assistant: Mr. Schnabel, Mexico
Adrián Cervántes	....	production assistant
Sylvie Chesneau	....	script supervisor
Martin Corkidi	....	production assistant
Robyn J. Davis	....	production coordinator: US
John B. Finn	....	post-production accountant
John B. Finn	....	production accountant
Melanio Filiberto Hebra	....	consultant
Jonas Hendrix	....	production assistant
Sean Hogan	....	first assistant accountant
Alejandro Iturriaga	....	production assistant
Jon Kilik	....	presenter
Brian Lamia	....	production assistant: New York
Susana Loyo	....	production secretary
G. Pekas Lozano	....	production coordinator: Mexico (as Gloria 'Pekas' Lozano)
Michelle Macirella	....	production office assistant
Monica Nordhaus	....	assistant: Mr. Schnabel, New York
Rafael Pérez	....	production assistant
Luis Ruiz	....	production assistant
Diego Sandoval	....	location manager
Pedro Sandoval	....	assistant location manager
Josh Schneider	....	accountant
Gwenn Williams	....	assistant: Mr. Schnabel, New York

Thanks
Laurie Anderson	....	special thanks
Cydney Cort	....	special thanks
Brian Eno	....	special thanks
Eloy Ganuza	....	special thanks
Lázaro Gómez Carriles	....	dedicatee
Dennis Hopper	....	special thanks
Orlando Jiménez Leal	....	special thanks
Lou Reed	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• El Mar Pictures
• Grandview Pictures

Distributors

• Fine Line Features (2001) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2001) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Films sans Frontières (2001) (France) (theatrical)
• Irfan Film (2005) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Keyfilms Roma (200?) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Lolafilms Distribución (2001) (Spain) (theatrical)
• United King Films (2001) (Israel) (theatrical)
• El Mar Pictures
• Grandview Pictures
• Homescreen (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2006) (2007) (Finland) (TV) (TV1)

Also Known As:

Antes que anochezca (USA: Spanish title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, some language and brief violence.

Runtime:

133 min | South Korea:123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | Russian | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R13 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | UK:15 (cut) | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:14A (Ontario - 2006) | Finland:K-15 (2007) (self applied) (TV rating) | Finland:K-18 (2006) (self applied) (TV rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | France:U | Peru:18 | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | South Korea:15 (cut)

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company:

El Mar Pictures

Trivia:

Almost every scene, according to Guillermo Rosas, was photographed with a chocolate-colored filter on the camera lens. The contributed a great deal to distinctive colors and textures in the film, especially the skin tones, and the vibrancy in green hues.

Quotes:

Reinaldo's mother: Reinaldo, would you be sad if I died?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Sean Hayes/Shaggy (#26.12)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Mujer Perjura

Engaging, poetic, touching bio-pic about Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas.

Incredible central performance from Javier Bardem ties the film together and makes you really care what happens. Great supporting players: Sean Penn has one incredible scene early on, who had us convinced he was Cuban. We didn't at all recognise him. Johnny Depp plays two small parts, but two very memorable ones. Growly-voiced Michael Wincott (played the bad guy in The Crow and Along Came a Spider and The Doors' manager in The Doors) is memorable. Andrea di Stefano is great as a central antagonist of Reinaldo, as is the now-Hollywood-famous Olivier Martinez who plays a touching, platonic friend to Reinaldo.

Beautifully photographed and directed in an admirable manner that draws attention to style every now and then in a poetic way very fitting for a bio-pic about a poet, and at other times just utilises style to tells the story very well, and seem not to be fussing about style at all.

There are scenes here where the sound effects track stops and this gorgeous cello music by Carter Burwell (composer of Being John Malkovich, Meet Joe Black, Man who Wasn't There, with another beautiful score) plays while we watch Bardem sitting in a club while people dance around him, and the music tells us he is far away. It is a wonderful scene, akin to Kurosawa's use of music in the brilliant burning of the first castle scene in Ran.

The way the camera tells this story was so marvellous and slick (though using rough camera work to tell moments of uneasiness, importantly this is not over-used as it was in the recent Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) that i knew the filmmaker had been influenced by American filmmaking, but throughout i had no idea the guy actually WAS American! The TV program misleadingly told us it was a Cuban movie (which it is not - it is an American production with Spanish, Cuban and American actors)

I'm even more shocked considering this is the guy who made Basquiat, which i always thought was more a tele-movie, and more about art than about movie-style. Julian Schnabel, i now learn, was a neo-expressionist painter in the 80's! Basquiat, about an artist, perhaps was a movie where he was making the transition between art-language and movie-language. Before Night Falls uses traditional storytelling, to be sure, but it has such a spellbinding cinematic quality i felt sure its director was one with cinema on the brain. Perhaps Schnabel has caught the bug after all.