Apostrophe S

At the very least, “Before Night Falls” is beautifully photographed. The colors depicting Cuba in the last half of the 20th century are both muted and vibrant at the same time.

At most, the film could be one of the greatest of all time, nevermind that whole “foreign language” category we Americans so haughtily tack on to any movie that is more than 10 percent subtitled. I honestly didn’t know much about Reinaldo Arenas before I saw this movie. Now his writing is on my “should read” list. If this film did any justice in reflecting the aesthetic Arenas created in his writing, I shouldn’t be disappointed.

The film is really broken up into episodes throughout the writer’s life, starting when he was very young and ending at his death. We get to experience the Cuban revolution from the perspective of a homosexual artist at a time and place when artists and homosexuals were considered most dangerous.

The addition of Johnny Depp in a duel role doesn’t take away from the film, as star cameos often can. Instead it adds Depp’s flair and substance to a film already chock full of substance. And he doesn’t look all that bad as a woman, either.

Now, my entry drafts folder is finally empty. I actually saw this movie about 2 weeks ago. I apologize for the delay.

It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In LA, nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.
— Graham

Tonight Michelle and I went down to McMenamins to see “Crash,” an intertwined story about angry people in L.A.

One of the things I love about L.A. in the movies is the different ways it is portrayed. You have the “Hollywood Homicide” version, where the whole town feels like a movie set and only attractive people walk around in the constant sunshine. Then you have the movies that really love the city. One of my favorite examples is “Heat,” directed by Michael Mann. He showed the same love for the city in “Collateral.” Mann really loves the city, you can tell in his movies. L.A. is always gritty and alive and always especially beautiful at night. “Crash” has the same love for the city.

Now, the movie is more about racial relations than anything else. It’s about our perceptions and prejudices. It’s also about the occasional action that reinforces an irrational stereotype, and the action that breaks one down. “Crash” has no heroes, nor does it have villains. Each character is sympathetic. Each character does good, but also does or says something that is revolting. Each character is also stereotypical, which was probably intentional.

In any case, the movie doesn’t proselytize. It doesn’t ask the viewer to buy into some zen bullshit brotherly love. It realizes that there will always be prejudice. What it does say, however, is that it is what we do that is important, not what color our skin is.

The movie leaves a few loose ends untied, a few storylines unresolved. We don’t get tidy story capsules that attempt to explain and solve racial relations in the course of a two hour movie. Perhaps the movie is saying that it’s not that simple. Lives aren’t that simple.