Johnny Depp plays double roles of Bon Bon and lieutenant Victor in Julian Schabel directed film Before Night Falls, about poet Reinaldo Arenas, victim of Fidel Castro's antigay regime, also starring Javier Bardem and Sean Penn http://inadepptrance.wordpress.com/feed











 

BEFORE NIGHT FALLS 

2000

Lieutentant Victor, Bon Bon

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Director: Julian Schnabel

Writers:
  • Cunningham O'Keefe, Lázaro Gómez Carriles, Julian Schnabel
  • Reynaldo Arenas (memoir "Before Night Falls")
  • Jana Bokova (documentary "Havana")

With : Javier Bardem, Olivier Martinez, Andrea Di Stefano, Michael Wincott, Olatz Lopez Garmendia, Johnny Depp

Rating: R

Source: IMDb

 








 
























SYNOPSIS

Before Night Falls is based on the posthumously published memoir by Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. It's rare to see an artist's life and work so elegantly interwoven, and the film uses all of Arenas's life as its canvas, from impoverished youth to lively gay freedom in mid-1950's Cuba; imprisonment during Castro's antigay regime; and to New York City in 1980, followed by Arenas's battle with AIDS and subsequent suicide in 1990. Through these extreme rises and falls, Arenas is always writing, his typewriter his most faithful lover and weapon (by way of smuggled manuscripts) against the dark forces that surround him. 

A nearly unrecognizable Sean Penn adds an ironic touch to his brief appearance as a peasant, and Johnny Depp is both funny and fearsome in dual roles as a drag queen and vicious army interrogator.


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 QUOTES


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Set in Cuba, the film was made entirely in Mexico, with Mexico City doubling as Havana. Julian Schnabel said the crew was so pleasant to work with that, if he was making a film in the arctic, he would use a Mexican crew.

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"Johnny Depp appears as an impossibly glamorous drag queen named Bon Bon, who helps smuggle Arena's manuscripts out of prison. Living out an Ed Wood fantasy, Depp is gorgeous."
Lucas Hilderbrand, Popmatters, 2000

"People like Reinaldo weren't writing political attacks against the government. They were just writing what we would call "novels" or "poetry" in this country, or poetry. But because they didn't fit into the ideology, they were banned".
Julian Schnabel, Popmatters, 2000

"I made the movie in Mexico , knowing that if people do it in Cuba, they'd probably get in trouble."
Julian Schnabel, Popmatters, 2000

"Both Sean and Johnny are totally uncompromised in their work. Johnny is incredibly exacting, he brings energy and a sense of playfulness to his roles. He's just inspired--and he's totally free, no hang-ups."
Julian Schnabel, Interview Magazine, interview by Dennis Hopper, 2001



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AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

2001 ALMA AWARDS:

- Outstanding Feature Film (Nominated)

- Outstanding Latino Cast in a Feature Film (Nominated)

- Outstanding Soundtrack or Compilation for Television and Film (Nominated)

2001 ACADEMY AWARDS (OSCAR):

- Best Actor in a Leading Role, Javier Bardem (Nominated)

2000 BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARDS:

- Best Actor, Javier Bardem (Second Place)

2001 CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS:

- Best Actor, Javier Bardem (Nominated)

2002 CHLOTRUDIS AWARDS
- Best Actor, Javier Bardem (nominated)

2001 GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS:
- Outstanding Film, Limited Release (Nominated)

2001 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS:

- Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, Javier Bardem (Nominated)

2001 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS:

- Best Male Lead, Javier Bardem (Won)

- Best Cinematography, Xavier Pérez Grobet and Guillermo Rosas (Nominated)

- Best Director, Julian Schnabel (Nominated)

- Best Feature, Jon Kilik (Nominated)

2001 PHOENIX FILM CRITICS AWARDS
- Best Actor In A Leading Role, Javier Bardem (nominated)

2000 NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW:

- Best Actor, Javier Bardem (Won)

2001 NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARDS

- Best Actor, Javier Bardem (Won)

2001 POLITICAL FILM SOCIETY:

- Exposé (Won)

- Human Rights (Nominated)

PREMIOS ACE
- Premio Ace, Cinema/Best Actor, Javier Bardem (won)

2001 SOUTHEASTERN FILM CRITICS AWARDS:

- Best Actor, Javier Bardem (Won) Tied with Michael Douglas for Wonder Boys (2000).

2000 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL:

- Grand Jury Special Prize, Julian Schnabel (Won)

- OCIC Award - Honorable Mention, Julian Schnabel (Won)

- Rota Soundtrack Award, Carter Burwell (Won)

- Volpi Cup, Best Actor, Javier Bardem (Won)

- Golden Lion, Julian Schnabel (Nominated)

2001 WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARDS:

- WSA Best Original Soundtrack of the Year, Carter Burwell (Nominated)

- WSA Soundtrack Composer of the Year, Carter Burwell (Nominated). Also for Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) and Knight's Tale, A (2001).



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