TLON- AWR

Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertiu by Jorge Luis Borges is somewhat difficult to understand because it includes a number of concepts that are tough to understand at first. Everything in Tlon is a dream that gradually becomes reality. There is this idea that every man is actually two, which makes the reader wonder which man is real and which one is created by the dream. Further in the story, Borges founds an encyclopedia that shows Tlon's existence, thus making it seem more real as opposed to imaginary. The idea of dream vs. reality is present because although the majority of people mentioned in the story are real, the events in which they are involved in are not. Taking this idea further, there are missing pages that refer to Uqbar essence which questions the existence of Uqbar. This gives the reader the idea that perhaps the curiousity of the two men has transformed their perception of reality in order for them to perceive a new imaginary world. Magical realism is also displayed in this story because of the way that time is portrayed. This is because there are no definite boundaries between the present and the future. Also, Borges analyzes the concept of language and how it is able to have an effect on the way we look at the world. The concept of the "Mirrors" later is introduced, and the significance of this is that a mirror shows a false motion from one individual to another that gets passed from one generation to the next.

Before Night Falls- JG

Before Night Falls leaves me with a lasting impression of Reinaldo Arenas. He is a very passionate person, we see this in his passion, and love of writing and the pride he takes in it. This is seen right from the beginning of the movie. No matter what Arenas is subjected to he never considers abandoning his passion and attachment to writing. Arenas is also a very brave and courageous man. We see his courage as a result of his homosexuality. He freely expresses himself and his opinions without shame or fear. Arenas had to live his life fighting for freedom, against a society that did not accept him and subjected him to torture and ridicule. But even when he was in rehab and prison he never let his spirits fall and never gave in. This makes Arenas a true individual, he did not conform to how society wanted him to. He is also a fighter, who refuses to fall. He is also clever, while in prison he devises a way to continue writing . Arenas is virtually a victim throughout his life, but he does not treat himself as a victim he does not pity himself he fights back.

AWR- Before Night Falls

Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls tells the life of an extremely courageous man by the name of Reinaldo Arenas. Reinaldo is introduced as a young boy who develops a passion for writing right from the beginning of the movie. The movie then moves forward to the time of the Cuban Revolution. By this time, the audience has figured out that Reinaldo is a homosexual and an extremely gifted writer. Reinaldo's writings were considered revolutionary so they were censored by Fidel Castro and his followers. Regardless of how many times Arenas was censored, never does he even consider the option of not writing anymore. Throughout this entire journey, Reinaldo demonstrates how brave and courageous he is by continuing to express himself freely without showing any concern for what may happen to him. Arenas was sent to a rehab camp for homosexuals, tortured, made fun of continously, and never really shown acceptance by society, so it takes a mentally tough person to put this all behind him. Reinaldo found others to take his writings and spread them across other countries, he wrote countless letters for fellow inmates when he was sent to prison, and made it clear that he was born to write. At the end of the film, Arenas finally is able to leave Cuba for the United States where he can express himself more freely. Althought he died at the age of 40, Reinaldo Arenas demonstrated a strong-willed man who was able to put up with a lifetime of abuse because some of his morals were not generally accepted by society at the time.

Before Night Falls - JPA

In the movie, Before Night Falls, Reinaldo Arenas depicts his tragic life and how he has had to deal with the closed minded society in which he lives. Arenas is a homosexual poet and in his book he says true to his true sexuality even though it extremely difficult on his life. In the movie Arenas is sent to rehab where people try to force him to become straight. Arenas however, stays true to himself and fights for what he believes is right. Arenas never gives up and continues to fight even when he is put in prison. While in prison, Arenas develops a system in which he writes letters to other inmates lovers so that he can develop a stash of pencils and paper to conduct his own writings. Prior to being released his writings are confiscated. Overall this movie is about the adversity that people such as Arenas need to deal with each and every day.

Before the night falls- neb

The film Before Night Falls, is an autobiography of Reinaldo Arenas’ life. Reinaldo was a very brave man that lived his brutal life with a lot of passion. Arenas was a victim of a society in the midst of the Fidel Castro revolution. He was a homosexual poet and consequently, his works were restricted by the government. 

Throughout the movie he stayed true to his homosexual ways even though he lived in a very close-minded society. Arenas was very audacious and determined to fight for what he believed in and did not change when he was in sent to a rehab center to turn him straight. 

His novels and life became dominated by the mix of temptation, fear, and betrayal. Arenas’s rage against the Castro regime that made his life horrendous is very obvious. The movie made me understand more about the revolution, the repression in Cuba, and the homosexual and homophobic aspects of my culture. 

Before night Falls- PCM

The movie Before Night Falls depicts the tragic life of Reinaldo Arenas and the adversity he encounters. Being a homosexual, Arenas is immediately portrayed as a victim of a society that does not accept people who stray from societal norms. Arenas experiences ridicule and no one accepts him for who he truly is as a person. Not only does Arenas find himself dealing with the social pressures due to this sexual orientation, he also experiences adversity through imprisonment. While in prison, Arenas develops a system in which he writes letters to other inmates lovers so that he can develop a stash of pencils and paper to conduct his own writings. Prior to being released his writings are confiscated. The movie is enveloped with hypocrisy as even some of the guards of the prison demonstrate homosexual tendencies. He also spends time living in exile as he has nothing to his name and nothing to distinguish him in society. The last instance of adversity that Arenas deals with is the development of Aids. Contracting AIDS appears to have significantly impacted his writing ability and desire. The entire film represents a metaphor for dealing with adversity which Reinaldo Arenas faces with regularity.

Before Night Falls - SK

Julian Schnabel chronicles the life of one of Cuba's most charismatic literary voices. The movie recounts the author's deprived rural upbringing and the intense love and support he receives from his mother. As a young man, Arenas is singled out by his teachers and encouraged to further his skills as a writer, bearing in mind the Castro regime's censorship of any work considered to be revolutionary or anti-authoritarian. Still, Arenas manages to smuggle his work out of the country through friends, who arrange for one of his novels to be published in France. Not only persecuted for his creative beliefs, the openly gay Arenas is jailed on a sex charge, later escapes custody only to be captured and persecuted later for his smuggled dispatches. In 1980, Arenas is finally allowed to leave Cuba for the United States, where he achieves freedom of expression but not prosperity.

Before Night Falls RC

Before Night Falls directed by Julian Schnabel is a film based on the memoirs of Reinaldo Arenas. The film basically takes us through the life of Reinaldo Arenas. In the beginning the reader is introduced to his childhood and upbringing as a guajiro. Then we experience his journey in the revolution, the censorship of his writing and discrimination of homosexuals, and finally his escape to New York. After watching this film the first this that stood out was Arenas ability to express his homosexuality. At this time in Cuba homosexuals were being sent to camps and exiled. Arenas continued to write and continued to express his thoughts. Arenas never gave up and continued to fight against the Cuban system especially when in prison. His early involvement in the revolution, and smart mouth as a child also show how strong minded this individual was. Overall, Arenas was able to overcome adversity through a very unstable time in Cuba and be a voice of hope to those hiding their homosexuality.

MRB - Before Night Falls

The film Before Night Falls, directed by Julian Schnabel tells the story of Reinaldo Arenas' life. The film begins with rural childhood and his early embrace of the Revolution to the cruel persecution he would later experience. Arenas begins to question the revolution that he once was advocating when Castro and his infidels begin censoring his writing and persecuting his homosexuality, which is not something that is allowed in Castro's Cuba. The Police capture Arenas and bring him to a rehab center for homosexuals who they plan on turning straight, but Arenas refuses to give in to the pressure and stands strong in the face of intimidation. But Arenas soon learns that he is not alone in the struggle for acceptance when he kissed by one of Castro’s soldiers. Arenas is surprised by this but is glad to see that he is not alone; this gives him even more incentive to be who he truly is and not conform to the straight man’s society. Clearly these men have been conditioned to believe that being homosexual is wrong and they must hide their urges for the fear of being persecuted themselves. The film portrays Arenas’ departure from Cuba in 1980 as well as his exile and death in the United States. It is a portrait of a man whose search for freedom – artistic and sexual, who defied poverty, censorship, persecution and exile.

ERK- Before Night Falls

In this movie, we see Reinaldo Arenas as a victim of a paranoid society. He is at first caught up in the spirit of revolution, but later realizes how misguided the revolution has become as the government begins to censor his work. For being a poet and a homosexual, he is portrayed as a counterrevolutionary and essentially victimized for no reason. Arenas struggles to find his place as a homosexual in a society where the idea of public homosexuality and the gay lifestyle are only just becoming an issue. Arenas is clearly a very courageous man as we can see by his experiences with the police and his imprisonment in el Moro. He could have easily told the police whatever they wanted to hear and left prison as a "rehabilitated" straight man. The movie gives us the impression that Arenas is in a small group of academics who see the hypocracy of society's behavior toward homosexuals. Even army officers and police seem to have homosexual tendencies; one army officer even kissed arenas. Thus, it appears that the new government has a policy based on fear of the unknown that almost everyone knows is ridiculous and nobody chooses to speak up and advocate change.

House of Spirits - SK

The movie and the novel The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende reveal a few magical realistic elements, and both share a similar plot. Allende shows some magic realism with Clara having psychic abilities, which is also revealed in the movie. However Allende was unsuccessful in making Clara’s ability any special. In the text, Esteban is shown going around and raping all of women on his property, this is different from the movie were he rapes once as opposed to many. Allende portrays Esteban as a harsh and ruthless character, where as in the movie he appears less cruel.A few characters were taken out from the movie, such as Barabas, which creates a magical realist effect of the fusion of time. The movie appeares to show very little magic realism, and some minor plots did not show up such as when the earthquake crushes Esteban’s bones, and having Pedro operate on him. Overall, Allende seems like she wants to create a magical realism story based on what happened in Chile and how the revolution took place in her point of view. However the book focused more on the plot than the magic realism effect.

House of Spirits RC

The House of Spirits by Isabell Allende compared to the movie seems to have very similar plots. The main criticism of these works where the fact that they are both considered to be great works of magical realism. Yet they both exhibit very little true characteristics of magical realism. Isabel Allende tries to mimic a few characteristics if magical realism but seems to fail at her attempts. The main way that that Allende tries to show magical realism is by giving Clara the main character the abilities to be a clairvoyant which is also shown in the movie. By giving Clara clairvoyant abilities one would assume that because these are works of magical realism that her abilities would help to uncover something about the culture or some deeper meaning to what the author is trying to convey, but Allende fails to make Clara’s ability anything but an additional dimension to her plot. There were also a few important characters that were simply not present in the movie. Barabas, Marcos and the twins were not present in the movie. In the novel Barabas seemed to be another one of Allende’s attempts at magic realism. In the novel Barabas is key to her attempt at fusion of time but he is nonexistent in the movie. Another main difference between the novel and the movie is that Estebans character in the movie is played down compared to the novel where he seems to be amore harsh and demanding man. Overall, Allende’s attemps at magic realism seem to have all failed at conveying some type of message, and in the movie they are even weaker because of the missing characters and have some small changes.

The House of the Spirits- ERK

The movie and the novel "The House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende demonstrate very few magical realist elements however, they do share an intriguing plot. The plot of the movie and the events reported in the book are slightly different. In the book, the eathrquake is portrayed as a major portion of the plot that allows Esteban to rebuild Tres Marias and become a hero among the laborers. At least in his mind, he is able to use this as justification for viewing himself as a hero. Also, in the book, Esteban breaks almost every bone in his body and Pedro sets the bones for him; this causes Esteban to feel some respect for Pedro. In the movie, Esteban views himself as a shepherd of the campesinos and thinks that his contribution to their lives has been more along the lines of insureing stability and order at the hacienda. The earthquake is only a minor portion of the movie and Esteban is not injured by it. Also in the novel, Esteban rapes and terrorizes almost all of the women on his ranch, but in the movie, Esteban has one incident of rape with one of the peasant women. Thus, his reputation with women is downplayed in the movie. However, Esteban's reputation for harshness with the campesinos is exaggerated in the movie when he whips Pedro Tercero for spreading communist beliefs among the workers. This scene is emotional, because Pedro Segundo is forced to watch as the Patron whips his son. Later in the story, the book portrays the revolution as a lengthy process. First, there are elections and then, political changes, then the government is dissolved, then the military takes over. In the movie, the political changes seem to go straight from business as usual to a revolution and political turmoil. Also, in the movie, Blanca's experience in the revolution seems short albeit brutal. In the book, Blanca is regularly interrogated over the course of an extended prison stay and it finally dumped after what seems like a few weeks or months rather than just a few days. Another important part of the book that is missing in the movie is that Barabas is not included at all in the movie.

house of spirits - JPA

The novel, The House of Spirits, and the movie that is created from it have many differences that become evident as they both progress. First of all Esteban Trueba is depicted very differently in the book than he is when you watch the movie. In the book Esteban is depicted as a very mean man that has raped man women throughout his life. However, in the movie Esteban shows a lot more compassion towards the people around him and is said to have only raped one person (which still does not make him a good person). There is also a difference between the love that is shown between Esteban and Clara. In the book, Esteban is persistently pursuing Clara whereas in the book Clara proclaims her love for Esteban.

Other key differences between the movie and the book come with the absence of some characters/places and also the age of the characters during which all of the events happen. Two major characters that are omitted for the movie are Jamie and Nicolas. Also, the house on the corner that is constantly referred to as the house of spirits is omitted for the movie. Alba is a lot younger in the movie than she is in the book so when all of the events happen she is younger than a teenager so it changes the ending to the book where her lover, Miguel, is not present. This change in age causes a lot of the events from the book that happen to Alba actually happen to Blanca in the movie. In the movie Blanca is the one who is taken away by the military force, which in the book happened to Alba because she had been dating Miguel.

House of Spirits - PCM

House of Spirits by Isabel Allende and the movie share very few similarities in plot structure. Both works have very minimal levels of magical realism and fail to exhibit the true characteristics that are inherent in magical realism. The first glaring discrepancy between the book and the movie is how Clara and Esteban fall in love. In the text we see Esteban adamantly pursuing Clara where in the movie she proclaims her love for Esteban. There are similarities in the character of Esteban who is fond of rape in both the text and the film and continues to do so after marriage in both situations. The dynamic of Esteban and Clara are very different in between the film and text. Also, the role of the children is very different in the movie as Nicolas and Jaime fail to exist. Blanca is still conceived by Clara and does play a role in the movie, but the absence of Nicolas and Jaime takes away from the paradox that exists in the book between him and his children. The absence of the earthquake also detracted from the character of the magical realist element as the grandfather of Pedro, did not have the opportunity to use his magical healing powers to cure Estaban. The most glaring difference in the film is the absence of Barabas the dog of Uncle Marcos. By not including Barabas, the magical realism is seemingly non- existent in the film and the synergy between the beginning and end of the book is not present in the film. Barabas’s involvement in the book shows her attempt at fusion of time, a characteristic inherent in Magical Realism. The fight between Esteban and Clara also ends with a different result in the movie as opposed to the book, as they move to the parent’s house instead of the ranch. This appears to be very detrimental to the movie as it detracts from the symbolism and importance of the ranch.

House of the Spirits- AWR

There is no doubt that the movie version of The House of the Spirits was very similar to Isabel Allende's book version, even if it was missing a number of important scenes. The movie has the same beginning as the novel, opening with the beautiful Rosa getting married to Esteban Trueba. After Rosa dies from taking a sip of her poisoned drink, Esteban becomes the patron of Tres Marias after having previously worked in the mines. Many years later, Esteban returns and marries Clara, who was portrayed just as she was the book, only with one exception. The powers that Clara had in the story were described to a much different extent then the way they were displayed in the movie. Clara's husband, Esteban Trueba, wasn't totally how I pictured him to be in the movie either. First of all, Allende tells the reader in the novel that Esteban rapes numerous women whereas in the movie he only rapes one. Although one can see how mean Esteban Trueba is in the movie, I don't think he was nearly as mean as he was made out to be in the book. He showed a lot more compassion in the movie towards the end, especially when he tried to keep Pedro Segundo safe from the military. Another key difference between the two versions of The House of the Spirits is how Blanca was the one who got taken away by the military forces in the movie. In the story, this happened to Alba because she was dating a revolutionary named Miguel, so these two characters had somewhat of a role reversal in this part of the movie. The movie also did not contain Jaime and Nicolas, the twin sons of Clara and Esteban Trueba.

Houseofspirits - Neb

Although the book and the movie have somewhat similar plots, the two are not completely like one other. The main difference is that the movie steals an entire generation; almost everything what happens in the novel to Alba happens in the movie to Blanca. To illustrate, Alba is the one taken into custody by the political police force for dating Miguel (a revolutionary), not Blanca for dating Pedro Garcia as in the movie. Moreover, Alba is the one that was mistreated and bruptly abused by Esteban Garcia in jail not Blanca. Finally, Alba was the one released with the help of Transito, who was one of the many lovers of Esteban Trueba.

In contrast with the movie Blanca actually does marry Jean de Satigny even though she ends up leaving him. However, in the same way as in the novel, Jean was the one who told Esteban Trueba about Pedro Garcia’s secret encounter with Blanca by the lake. Esteban’s revenge in the book was a success for him because he ends up cutting Pedro’s fingers however in the movie nothing bad happens when he finds him.

Uncle Marcos, Barrabas, the twins  (Jaime and Nicolas) children of Clara and Esteban, are not mention in the movie.  As a consequent of this, the lover that Nicolas had in the book (Amanda) with whom his brother was deeply in love too, was omited in the movie. Alba’s lover (Miguel) is absent too because she is only a child when all this happens, whereas in the book she was a teenager already.

On the other hand, some similarities between the book and the movie are: Clara was a clairvoyant and fully develop from the start, Rose died in the first part of the movie and was extremely beautiful, Esteban was a miner at first, Clara’s parents died in a car accident and the mother losses her head, Ferula lived with Clara and Esteban and also she cursed her brother when he threw her out of the house, the political activities have importance in both the novel and the movie from the start, and finally the clash between classes collide in a revolution at the end.

House of Spirits Differences

Although the main plot was similar between the book, House of Spirits by Isabel Allende and the movie, House of Spirits directed by Billie August, there were many differences between the two stories. At the beginning of the movie when Clara first sees Esteban she claims that right then she fell in love with him, while in the book it says that Clara never even loved Esteban at all, even after they were married. After Rosa dies, Esteban says that he saved up from mining in order to buy his hacienda, while in the book the hacienda was inherited through his family. In the novel, once Esteban makes the ranch successful he becomes a powerful casique who does whatever he wants, including raping a beautiful native, but in the book Esteban rapes multiple natives even after the marriage.
Another big difference was how in the novel, Clara had twins boys Jaime and Nicolas but in the movie this does not happen. Jaime and Nicolas fued over a love for a woman named Amanda, but this is completely left out of the movie, most likely to shorten the film so it is not too long. Another scene that was left out of the movie in order to meet the time constraint of a film was the huge earthquake the killed many people in Tres Marias. The only mention of an earthquake in the film is when Ferula is caught in Clara’s bed and claims that Clara was, “afraid of the earthquake and asked me to lay with her.”
After Ferula’s death, things are not going very well between Esteban and Clara, and he ends up hitting her after she tries to defend Blanca’s actions. This is the last straw for Clara and she & Blanca move away. In the novel, Clara and Blanca move to the capital, not their parent’s house like in the film.
Once Blanca and Clara move away, Blanca becomes pregnant and has a child named Alba. Alba’s lover in the novel Miguel, is the brother of Amanda. Miguel is the reason for Alba’s involvement in the revolutionary Coup, so because he is left out of the movie, Alba never shows much interest in the revolution. The final difference that was important was Clara’s powers. In the novel, Clara speaks to ghosts but in the movie, Clara only has visions of the future.

House of the Spirits-jg

There are many differences between the book and the movie, however the general plot summaries were fairly similar. One of the major differences was Esteben, he was much more caring and kind in the movie. We only see him rape on woman and his only outburst where when he whips Blanca and punches Clara. Other than that he was not as cruel and angry and does not have as many outburst as he does in the book. I am much more sympathetic towards him in the movie. Another major difference is Clara and her personality. In the book she goes against the norm of how women should act and she is a very strong woman. In the movie however she is very passive and reserved. Also, in the book one of the major themes that is emphasized is the role of women, their inequalities and roles in society. In the book we see how women were very passive, did what they were told and it was obvious how men ruled the society. I don’t see the gender inequalities as prominent in the movie.

In class we discussed that the book, by what we have learned, cannot really be considered magical realism . However, certain elements that, to others could be considered magical realist elements in the book are not in the movie. First off, Barabbas is a major part if the book, both starting and ending with him. Also, Uncle Marcos and his magical books, as well as the Mora sisters are not even included in the movie. They also, take away Clara’s powers and make them less significant in the movie. Most prominently everyone can see and talk to spirits, whereas in the book only Clara can.

Finally, in the book we can see the social injustice and this can be seen in Jamie and Nicholas as they grow up and are very different from one another. The boys are not in the movie either. There is also no house on the corner in the movie, which in the book could potentially be considered “the house of the spirits”.