Before Night Falls 2000  R, 125 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Julian Schnabel
Cast: Javier Bardem, Olivier Martinez, Andrea Di Stefano, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, Michael Wincott, Najwa Nimri, Hector Babenco, Jerzy Skolimowski, Vito Maria Schnabel
Noted anti-Castro Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem) is the subject of this film about a poor boy who grows up and joins Castro's revolutionary forces. After the revolution, Arenas moves to Havana, publishes his first novel, and participates in the gay underground. His actions are considered dangerous by Castro's political regime, and Arenas is sentenced to concentration camps and later is exiled. Finally free and living in NY, Arenas contracts the AIDs virus and ultimately kills himself. What makes this film extraordinary is not the plot; instead, it is the painstaking blend of the movie's sights and sounds that tugs at viewers' emotions. Bardem was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award.
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Carandiru 2003 R, 148 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Hector Babenco
Cast: Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos, Milton Goncalves, Ivan de Almeida, Aiton Graca, Maria Luisa Mendonca, Aida Leiner, Rodrigo Santoro, Gero Camilo, Lazaro Ramos, Cair Blat
Based on the real experiences of Dr. Drauzio Varella who fought AIDS in Carandiru Prison in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this story provides a powerful view of life behind prison walls.
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Ironweed 1987  R, 135 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Hector Babenco
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, Tom Waits, Diane Venora, Fred Gwynne, Margaret Whitton, James Gammon, Joe Grifasi, Jake Dengel, Nathan Lane, Will Zahm, Laura Esterman, Hy Anzell
It is 1938 in Albany, New York, where Francis Phelan (Jack Nicholson) and Helen Archer (Meryl Streep) have been drinking companions for years lamenting over their misfortunes in life. Francis was once a professional baseball player but after killing his infant son by dropping him, Francis left his wife Annie (Carroll Baker) and children, and his life spiraled downward. Helen has turned to prostitution to support her drinking and other basic needs. When Francis visits Annie and family, there is a chance for reconciliation. Will he take steps to rehabilitate himself, or will he continue his downtrodden life with Helen? Both Nicholson and Steep were nominated for Oscars.
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Kiss of the Spider Woman 1985 R, 119 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Hector Babenco
Cast: William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sonia Braga, Jose Lewgoy, Milton Goncalves, Miriam Pires, Nuno Leal Maia, Fernando Torres, Patricio Bisso, Herson Capri, Denise Dumont, Antonio Petrin, Wilson Grey, Miguel Falabella, Walter Breda
The scene is a South American prison, and the film's main characters are two cellmates with nothing in common except for the fact that they are not accepted by society. Molina (William Hurt) is a gay who has molested a young child, and Valentin (Raul Julia) is a revolutionary. Over a period of time, they begin to have compassion for each other. Hurt won an Oscar for his performance. Nominations were received for Best Picture and Director.
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Pixote 1981  N/R, 127 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama
Director: Hector Babenco
Cast: Fernando Ramos da Silva, Jorge Juliao, Gilberto Moura, Edilson Lino, Marilia Pera, Claudio Bernardo, Zenildo Oliveira Santos, Israel Feres David, Jose Nilson Martin Dos Santos, Jardel Filho, Rubens de Falco, Elke Maravilha
This story involves Sao Paulo children who grow up in poverty and turn to lives of crime as their only means of survival. Pixote (Fernando Ramos da Silva) has been abandoned and has become a drug dealer, pimp, and murderer just to survive–and he is only 10 years old. A grim, powerful film.
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| 1. At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)
2. Before Night Falls (2000)
3. Carandiru (2003)
4. Ironweed (1987)
5. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
6. Pixote (1981)
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