Tuesday, April 26, 2011
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.
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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. Once Arenas’ writing starts to be censored by Castro, he begins to question whether advocating this revolution was the right idea. Then Arenas is persecuted for his homosexuality; this persecution is what finally causes Arenas to switch sides in the revolution and begin strongly opposing it. Homosexuality is not allowed in Castro’s Cuba so the police capture Arenas and attempt to force him to be straight. Once at the rehab center for homosexuals Arenas refuses to give in to the pressure and stands strong in the face of intimidation. This shows how strong and courageous Arenas is because it would have been very easy for him to just give in and claim the he was no longer gay but he did not want to give the infidels that satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteBut 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.