MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Before Night Falls

“Before Night Falls” is an insightful film by the truly visionary director Julian Schnabel. His artist’s background really comes across in this film as some of the camera work is absolutely breathtaking. Schnabel really captures the essence of Cuban life in this film. The film tells the story of the famous gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, who came under heavy persecution during the tumultuous revolutionary years under Castro. In this breakout role for Javier Bardem, he gives another painfully good performance (much like his work in “The Sea Inside”). In addition, there are some wonderfully unexpected cameos from Sean Penn and Johnny Depp. This film is pure art.