Before Night Falls

Visually splendid with a graceful and playful style that matches Arenas' poetry. At times it feels a bit artificial and irritatingly "edgy" (e.g. Depp's part), but for the most part the presentation is wonderfully imaginative and engaging.

Ambitious and daring, but incredibly frustrating at times with a final quarter which drags when it should be working up to a knock-out punch. Bardem's shattering performance and exquisite cinematography are definite highlights; peculiar indulgences (Depp as two unrelated (?) characters and unrecognisable Penn in a cameo) plus a generally disjointed narrative are detriments. A mixed bag to be sure, but worth seeing for the elements that might have formed greatness with a little more discipline.

Cuba is kinda gay.

Gorgeously filmed, touchingly acted, and sad. I'm not sure why I don't love it more than I do . . . maybe because his writing itself doesn't grab me.

The performances are great, but the narrative just drags along too often to make this a classic. The storyline won't appeal to most people and the filmmakers don't do it any favors.

great lead performance in just a good movie

Low production values, blaring attempts at cinematography, heavy political human interest story, difficult to understand speech,outright confusing scenes cut in with baby parts by Johnny & Shaun to help grant these goings on legitimacy, although it's all ready wallowing in self importance & depression. The end result is a movie that fools think is an important film and the rest of us philistines find boring & repulsive, since suffering made dull is necessarily repulsive. Surprisingly bad.

Cinematography is excellent but it does drag on at times.

I must admit I had never heard of Reinaldo Arenas, but it doesn't matter. Before Night Falls is a good movie by any measure. Not just in the gay interest or biopic niche, and not only because it exposes the brutal oppression in Castro's Cuba to anyone still naive enough to deny it. A step up from Schnabel's nice debut Basquiat, but surpassed somewhat by The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Before Night Falls features a great performance from Javier Bardem.