before night falls

I'm on a bit of a roll with Javier Bardem films. And Julian Schnabel, too. In recent months I've watched The Sea Inside. No Country For Old Men. Basquiat (well, that was late last year). The Diving Bell And The Butterfly. And now Before Night Falls, which has them both - Bardem as the lead actor and Schnabel as director, writer, producer and general god. The film is about the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas - it's based on his autobiography of the same name - and follows his life as a gay man in South America from the 1960s onwards. Schnabel presents an altogether different view of Cuba - it's not dripping with sentimentality as many films/books do. I cried. But then I always cry. But it is poignant, and well worth watching.