Before Night Falls
After Basquiat (1996), Julian Schnabel, himself a well-known visual artist, devoted his second feature to another artistic outsider: Cuban poet, playwright, and prose writer Reinaldo Arenas (1943-1990). The screenplay, co-written by Schnabel, is based on Arenas' posthumously published autobiography Antes que anochezca (Before Night Falls). As can be expected from a visual artist, Schnabel has created a filmic canvas filled with dream images, scraps of childhood memories and impressions of the seamy side of Cuba, where Arenas preferred to spend his time.
Arenas grows up in poverty in rural Cuban. As a teenager, he already feels drawn to the revolutionary élan of Fidel Castro and his fellow guerrillas, but soon discovers that the communist ideals clash with his true being: a gay man refusing to adjust. Eventually he pays a high price for his urge to be free. Starring Javier Bardem as Arenas, Johnny Depp in a double role, and others. Winner Grand Jury Prize, Venice Film Festival.
Please take note: only with Dutch subtitles
With special introduction
Wed 23 Aug | 21:00 | Rialto De Pijp
Julian SCHNABEL (1951, USA) is a seminal artist whose multidisciplinary practice includes painting, sculpture, filmmaking, architecture and furniture-making. An award-winning film director, he sees himself primarily as a painter whose work blurs the distinction between abstraction and figuration. His second feature, Before Night Falls, won awards including a Grand Jury Prize and a Volpi Cup for Best Actor (Javier Bardem) in Venice.
