Before Night Falls (2000)
Drama • 2h 14m
Director: Julian Schnabel
Cast: Javier Bardem, Olivier Martinez, Johnny Depp, Andrea Di Stefano, Santiago Magill, John Ortiz, Héctor Babenco, Francisco Gattorno, Marisol Padilla Sánchez, Michael Wincott, Sean Penn, Najwa Nimri, Diego Luna, Diahnne Abbott, Jerzy Skolimowski, Alfredo Villa, Rene Rivera, Maurice Compte, Vincent Laresca, Olatz López Garmendia, Nemo Librizzi, Giovani Florido, Loló Navarro, Batan Silva, Carmen Beato, Cy Schnabel, Olmo Schnabel, Vito Schnabel, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Lia Chapman, Aquiles Benites, Ewa Piaskowska, Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Marlene Díaz, Olga Borayo, Manolo García, Lola Schnabel, Ofelia Medina, Lois Barragán, Eduardo Antonio, Stella Schnabel, Manuel González, Claudette Maillé, Chanel Puertas, Manolo Rivero, Andrea Fassler, Julian Bucio, Jorge Zárate, Jorge Zamora, Noel Medina, Jorge Zepeda, Yulian Díaz, Eduardo Arroyuelo, Antonio Zavala Kugler, Eloy Ganuza, Khotan Fernández, René Pereyra, Abel Woolrich, Mario Oliver, Robertico Valdez, Claudio Osoria, Caridad Martinez, Zulema Cruz, Annie Gil, Filiberto Estrella, Juan Cristóbal Murillo, Melanio Filiberto Hebra, Matthias Ehrenberg, Jack Schnabel, Esther G. Schnabel, Xavier Domingo, Eric Springer, Jimmy Nugent
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About the film
Spanning several decades, this powerful biopic offers a glimpse into the life of famed Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, an artist who was vilified for his homosexuality in Fidel Castro's Cuba.
- Alternative Titles
- Before Night Falls
Director: Julian Schnabel
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray, in B&W
4K restoration of the original 3D left eye and right eye camera negatives
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Richard Brooks
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Vincent Sherman
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: George Pal
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Compton Bennett
4K restoration from original technicolor negatives
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
More Drama on Blu-ray
Director: Robert Altman
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Cinematrographe's HDR grading is overcooked, which is a known VinSyn tendency. Additionally, their booklet mis-credits the encode to FiM.
YMMV, but for some, the included BD encoded by Marcus Johnson—ironically may make for a more pleasing experience.
Director: Roman Polanski
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
UK 4K teased by 88 Films https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=24252379
Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray > Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray (better encode on Carlotta without any low-pass filtering, more extras and English subtitles on Vinegar Syndrome)
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sidney Lumet
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are FiM encodes, but low-passed, Imprint minimally less so. Unfortunately, unlike with The Killing, Kino does not hold up at all, the grain is much rougher and the compression visibly struggles making for a much less pleasant watch, even if select stills look better.
All discs use the same source transfer. Criterion cleaned up some hums and hiss, but lost a little bit of high-end detail. Unlike The Killing, the difference's relatively mino.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Cinematographe is an FiM encode
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