Life is most definitely not a pleasant experience for the oppressed Cuban author in the new film Before Night Falls.

This is a story that revolves around the memoirs of real-life writer Reinaldo Arenas and his life in Cuba.

Before Night Falls begins with young Arenas living in rural Cuba with his mother and her family.

At a very young age Arenas is visited by a strange and humble man, for which his mother seems to have nothing but disgust and contempt. The man places two pesos in the young boy’s hand and then is gone.

Flash forward to an adolescent Arenas. Here it is discovered that he may have a talent for writing. When informed of this, the male head of the household spirals into a fit of pure rage. His family immediately moves away.

Now Arenas has it in his head that he wishes to join the rebels that fight against the overpowering political regime in his country, so he embarks on a journey to find them and himself.

He grows into adulthood and moves to Havana, where he begins work at the national library and meets the man that will be his lover for many years to come.

Arenas finally begins his writing. His first book wins an honorary mention in a writing contest and is published in Cuba.

After that, Arenas must go underground with his writings in order to keep them from being censored by the government. He is constantly being threatened and investigated by the government and must try to escape the prison that is his island home.

The story takes place in and around the underground culture of the unsatisfied citizens who refuse to bow down to their Communist government.

The environment revolves around a homosexual subculture in which Arenas lives his day-to-day life.

As the film progresses, the plot offers up an interesting depiction of the way society is run in Cuba, but also comes with many high points and low points.

At times the film can be very slow-paced and contain little or no candy to keep the audiences attention.

The story also seems to drag on due to a meandering pace in which the characters cannot flow with the film’s timing.

The film gives the impression that Arenas was discriminated against primarily for his homosexuality and secondly for his expressionism through literature, which accomplishes some of the film’s purpose.

The movie also contains an educated understanding of the difficulties that some people are faced with every day.

Before Night Falls is currently playing at the Regal Downtown West Cinema 8.

Rating: B-