Before Night Falls(2000)- Production Details

Poster of Before Night Falls

Synopsis

The story of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas. Raised in the Oriente Province of Cuba in the 1940s, Arenas began his life-long love of the sea and water. Leaving home as a young adolescent, he moves to Havana where he finds himself swept up in the revolutionary spirit and joins a circle of writers and artists. His first novel, "Singing from the Well," is published in Cuba, but as Castro's oppressive regime gathers force, Arenas' homosexuality and political writing make him a target. After being falsely accused of molestation, Arenas is arrested and imprisoned at El Morro. Eventually released from prison after dehumanizing treatment, Arenas flees Cuba in the 1980 Mariel Harbor boatlift. Moving to New York with his friend Lazaro Gomez Carilles, Arenas' hopes for a new life are destroyed by AIDS, and he dies in 1993, at the age of 45.

Production Details

In Theaters

  • December 22, 2000

MPAA Rating

R (for strong sexual content, some language, brief violence)

Genres

Adaptation, Biopic, Drama

Run Time

2 hours 5 minutes

Distributors

Fine Line Features

Box Office

$4,221,817

Also Known As

  • Avant la nuit

Production Status

Released

Filming Locations

  • Mexico
  • New York City, New York, USA

Produced In

United States

Director

CAST

Javier Bardem

Reinaldo Arenas

Johnny Depp

Bon Bon, Lieutenant Victor

Olivier Martinez

Lazaro Gomez Carriles

Andrea Di Stefano

Pepe Malas

Sean Penn

Cuco Sanchez