Customer Reviews

Before Night Falls

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just bought this today, the day of its release, and have been playing it repeatedly for the past hours--I simply cannot get tired of the beautiful, stirring Cuban classics in this marvelous compilation, which even includes the whistling heard throughout that wonderful movie's closing track and two compositions by Carter Burwell. This CD, like Julian Scnabel's stirring cinematographical tribute, has managed to capture the sheer beauty of Reinaldo Arenas memoir, by far one of the most astonishing testaments to the triumph of life in the face of utmost horror and opprssion. Every single track--EVERY SINGLE TRACK--in here is an utter joy. I am Puerto Rican and own many, many compilations of this genre, but this is definitely the best. In fact, singling out songs seems a grave injustice, although those which keep speaking to me are the Beny More tracks, Pedro Luis Ferrer's "Ay Mariposa," Bola de Nieve's "Porque me la dejaste querer?," and the lead track, Guayabero's "El Tumbaito." This CD, along with Arenas' memoir and Schnabel's movie, has made my YEAR. Things like these make the hardships of life bearable. Gracias, Reinaldo; gracias, Julian.

There are so many beautiful songs on this soundtrack.
I just miss the music that plays in the movie where Reinaldo and Pepe drive down in the evening on their way to the club, and it plays all the way to the end of the club scene.
The poem by Reinaldo (read by the actor Javier Bardem) is haunting and breaks your heart in the movie, and it nicely completes the CD. It is a part of the soundtrack. It's just read not sung.
This is a beautiful CD.

At first listen I was somewhat dissapointed, hoping to find more of the original soundtrack music on it but...there are some real gems here in the Cuban repetoire and this has become one of my favorites. Check out Ay Mariposa by Pedro Ferrer and Por Que Me La Dejaste Querer? by Bola de Nieve, Carter Burwell's original soundtrack piece 'Baloon Escape' and Kamata Mariyam by Fairuz. I would only question the voice over at the end of the record... I don't know why producers never seem to understand that when we buy soundtracks we want to hear music not dialog excerpts.

I purchased this sound track because because of a particular song which I didn't know the name to. I thought it would be in the soundtrack but no it wasn't. I did even hear samples of the songs but was confused by the Balloon Escape song, I thought that was the song I was looking for. I now know it's Lou Reed's song called "Rouge" on his Ecstasy album. The other cuban sounding songs are pretty cool actually but I don't really listen to it. You should get this if you are mainly interested in the cuban music (that's what I"m calling it) that is played in the movie.

Knowing nothing about Cuban music, I'll have to trust Julian Schnabel when he writes in the jacket that this album "tells the history of Cuba." That's probably too bold of a goal for an album of 14 Cuban songs, but for us gringos, it's a joy to hear as every song on the record, ranging from aggressive salsa-able dance cuts to more intimate instrumental piano work. I bought the album for Carter Burwell's two lovely tracks here, and although I wish more of that gorgeous score were included, I'm still happily listening to every song here.

It think that my only real problem with this CD is the lacking original score. There are 2 tracks composed by Carter Burwell. It would have been nice to hear more, maybe a 2 disc set would be more appropriate. The Cuban music is excellent.

I strongly disagree with those reviews that strictly link music in cinema with the images to which apparently they are connected to. In the case of Before Night Falls, Schnabel, if he didn't pick up the right music acording to the times when the action takes place - which any good listener must thank, just imagine that Annia Linares in a background while Arenas is being persecuted by the secret police of Castro's Cuba -, he rightly used the tracks as dramatic elements in the elaboration of the scenes. Just, after the horrific events of September 11, we can pay more attention to that scene of Reinaldo and Lazaro enjoying the snowfall in that old car wandering the streets of NYC, watching those tall buildings, while Fairuz sings melancholy and woefully that Kamata Mariyam. It really gave me the creeps.

My experience with this music was cathartic. Sure, the film helped to inform the sound and give it context. Any further critique would be without heart, and this was music from the heart and soul. The only track that I had questions about is #14 Kamata Mariyam. A Lebonese singer? But it works. I highly recommend both film and soundtrack.

Julian Schnabel ultilized much more music than this osundtrack provides. Two essential missing pieces:

(1) the police raid of the fiesta (the one which Javier's tour guide friend takes him to) contains a three minute montage to the adaigetto of Mahler's 5th symphony (which is by the way, a very banal and naive use of music).

(2) The music depicting the sea and Javier's disasterious flight from Cuba on the makeshift raft is lifted from Popol Vuh's original soundtrack to Werner Herzog's "Aguire the Wrath of God". In fact, Schnabel shamelessly copies Herzog's use of the music- to depict the enorminty of nature compared to miniscue man.

Final word, this film is too sappy- Schnabel is not humble enough, because his craft remains weak.

Although I don't usually write negative reviews, I think this item is more than deserving. To begin, this is the only soundtrack you can buy; while most movies have an original score and a various artist album (when applicable), both are truncated into this single volume. Much of the various artist music is available, but only two original pieces are presented, one with Javier Bardem speaking as Reinaldo Areanas in Spanish (the scene in the movie in the cab in New York), a memorable monolouge indeed, but it doesn't fit on the soundtrack.

The only real problem is that this one volume edition listed as an original soundtrack is not comprehensive and mostly unoriginal.