Mala Noche

Last updated
Mala Noche
Malanoche.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Screenplay byGus Van Sant
Based onMala Noche: And Other "Illegal" Adventures
1977 story
by Walt Curtis
Produced byGus Van Sant
StarringTim Streeter
Doug Cooeyate
Ray Monge
Nyla McCarthy
CinematographyJohn Campbell
Edited byGus Van Sant
Music byCreighton Lindsay
Release date
  • May 4, 1988 (1988-05-04)(United States)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Spanish
Budget$25,000

Mala Noche (also known as Bad Night) is a 1986 American drama film based on Walt Curtis' autobiographical novel. It marked Gus Van Sant's directorial film debut, and stars Tim Streeter, Doug Cooeyate, Ray Monge, and Nyla McCarthy. The film was shot on 16 mm in black-and-white in Portland, Oregon.

Contents

Plot

The story follows relationship between Walt, a gay store clerk, and two younger Mexican boys, Johnny and Roberto Pepper. Walt and his female friend convince them to come over for dinner, but Johnny and Pepper have to return to their cheap hotel because another friend is locked out. Walt makes his first pass at Johnny by offering him $15 to sleep with him. Johnny refuses and runs to his hotel room, leaving Roberto locked out with nowhere to spend the night but Walt's. Settling for second best, Walt lies down next to Pepper and allows him on top for sex. However, he does not give up on trying to win over Johnny. The film progresses from there into not always clearly defined relationships, unbalanced by age, language, money, race, and sex.

Roberto gets shot by the police. Johnny successfully resists Walt's advances.

Cast

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 96% from 25 reviews with the consensus: "Mala Noche is a raw and gritty portrait of desire, doomed romance, and rejection -- and marks debuting director Gus Van Sant as a filmmaker with a gratifyingly personal touch." [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Gerry</i> (2002 film) 2002 American film

Gerry is a 2002 American drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, and starring and co-written by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. It is the first installment of Van Sant's "Death Trilogy", three films based on deaths that occurred in real life and is succeeded by Elephant (2003) and Last Days (2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus Van Sant</span> American film director, producer, photographer and musician

Gus Green Van Sant Jr. is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician who has earned acclaim as an independent filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures, in particular homosexuality. Van Sant is considered one of the most prominent auteurs of the New Queer Cinema movement.

<i>Elephant</i> (2003 film) 2003 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant

Elephant is a 2003 American psychological drama film written, directed and edited by Gus Van Sant. It takes place in Watt High School, in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, and chronicles the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The film begins a short time before the shooting occurs, following the lives of several characters both in and out of school, who are unaware of what is about to unfold. The film stars mostly new actors, including John Robinson, Alex Frost, and Eric Deulen.

<i>My Own Private Idaho</i> 1991 film directed by Gus Van Sant

My Own Private Idaho is a 1991 American independent adventure drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V. The story follows two friends, Mike Waters and Scott Favor, played by River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves respectively, as they embark on a journey of personal discovery that takes them from Portland, Oregon, to Mike's hometown in Idaho, and then to Rome in search of Mike's mother.

<i>Insignificance</i> (film) 1985 film by Nicolas Roeg

Insignificance is a 1985 British alternate history drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg, and starring Gary Busey, Michael Emil, Theresa Russell, Tony Curtis, and Will Sampson. Adapted by Terry Johnson from his 1982 play of the same name, the film follows four famous characters who converge in a New York City hotel one night in 1954: Joe DiMaggio, Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, and Joseph McCarthy—billed as The Ballplayer, The Professor, The Actress and The Senator, respectively.

<i>Last Days</i> (2005 film) 2005 American film

Last Days is a 2005 American drama film directed, produced and written by Gus Van Sant. It is a fictionalized account of the last days of a musician, loosely based on Kurt Cobain. It was released to theaters in the United States on July 22, 2005 and was produced by HBO. The film stars Michael Pitt as the character Blake, based on Cobain. Lukas Haas, Asia Argento, Scott Patrick Green and Thadeus A. Thomas also star in the film. This is the first film from Picturehouse, a joint venture between Time Warner's New Line Cinema and HBO Films subsidiaries to release art house, independent, foreign, and documentary films. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

<i>Unknown</i> (2006 film) American film directed by Simon Brand

Unknown is a 2006 American mystery thriller film directed by Simon Brand and written by Matthew Waynee. It stars Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Joe Pantoliano, Barry Pepper, and Jeremy Sisto as a group of men kidnapped and locked in a factory with no memory of how they arrived there.

<i>My Bodyguard</i> 1980 film by Tony Bill

My Bodyguard is a 1980 American family comedy drama film directed by Tony Bill, and written by Alan Ormsby. The film stars Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon, Martin Mull, and Ruth Gordon.

<i>Gus</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by Vincent McEveety

Gus is a 1976 American sports comedy film released by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, directed by Vincent McEveety and starring Ed Asner, Don Knotts and Gary Grimes. Its center character is Gus, a football-playing mule. The film did well at the box office and was released on home video in 1981.

<i>Psycho</i> (1998 film) 1998 psychological horror film

Psycho is a 1998 American psychological horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant, and starring Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, William H. Macy, and Anne Heche. It is a modern remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film of the same name, in which an embezzler arrives at an old motel run by a mysterious man named Norman Bates; both films are adapted from Robert Bloch's 1959 novel.

<i>House Arrest</i> (1996 film) American comedy film

House Arrest is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Harry Winer, written by Michael Hitchcock, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Pollak, Jennifer Tilly, Christopher McDonald, Wallace Shawn, and Ray Walston with supporting roles done by Kyle Howard, Amy Sakasitz, Mooky Arizona, Russel Harper, and an up-and-coming Jennifer Love Hewitt. It tells the story of two children who lock their parents in the basement upon their plans for a separation as the other children they know get involved by locking their respective problem parents in there as well.

<i>Sugar Hill</i> (1994 film) 1994 film

Sugar Hill is a 1994 American crime film directed by Leon Ichaso and written by Barry Michael Cooper. It stars Wesley Snipes and Michael Wright as brothers Roemello and Raynathan Skuggs. Considered the second film of Cooper's "Harlem Trilogy", it focuses on the two brothers who are major drug dealers in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem, specifically the namesake Sugar Hill.

<i>Paranoid Park</i> (film) 2007 film by Gus Van Sant

Paranoid Park is a 2007 coming of age teen drama film written, directed and edited by Gus Van Sant. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Blake Nelson and takes place in Portland, Oregon. It is the story of a teenage skateboarder set against the backdrop of a police investigation into a mysterious death.

<i>Finding Forrester</i> 2000 American drama film by Gus Van Sant

Finding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. In the film, a black teenager, Jamal Wallace, is invited to attend a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester, through whom he refines his talent for writing and comes to terms with his identity. Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Pitt, Glenn Fitzgerald, April Grace, Busta Rhymes, and Charles Bernstein star in supporting roles.

<i>The Sting II</i> 1983 film by Jeremy Kagan

The Sting II is a 1983 American comedy film and a sequel to The Sting, again written by David S. Ward. It was directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan and stars an entirely original cast including Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, Teri Garr, Karl Malden and Oliver Reed.

Walt Curtis was an American poet, novelist, and painter from Portland, Oregon. His autobiographical work, Mala Noche (1977), became the basis for Gus Van Sant's 1985 film of the same name. He was the co-founder of the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission. He hosted the poetry radio show "Talking Earth" at KBOO from 1971. He wrote about and championed Oregon literary figures such as Joaquin Miller, Hazel Hall, Frances Fuller Victor, and many others. He also acted in Property in 1978 and Paydirt in 1981.

<i>Twelve</i> (2010 film) 2010 film

Twelve is a 2010 teen crime drama film directed by Joel Schumacher from a screenplay by Jordan Melamed, based on Nick McDonell's 2002 novel of the same name. The film follows a young drug dealer whose luxurious lifestyle falls apart after his cousin is murdered and his best friend is arrested for the crime. It stars Chace Crawford, Rory Culkin, Curtis Jackson, Emily Meade, and Emma Roberts.

<i>Restless</i> (2011 film) 2011 American film

Restless is a 2011 American romantic drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, written by Jason Lew, and produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard. The film stars Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska, with Ryō Kase, Schuyler Fisk, and Jane Adams playing supporting roles. The film was shot in Portland, Oregon.

<i>People Like Us</i> (2012 film) 2012 film directed by Alex Kurtzman

People Like Us is a 2012 American drama film directed by Alex Kurtzman in his directorial debut. The film was written by Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jody Lambert, and stars Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Michael Hall D'Addario and Michelle Pfeiffer. A. R. Rahman composed the soundtrack. The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Touchstone Pictures on June 29, 2012.

<i>Million Dollar Arm</i> 2014 film by Craig Gillespie

Million Dollar Arm is a 2014 American biographical sports drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel who were discovered by sports agent J. B. Bernstein after winning a reality show competition.

References

  1. "Mala Noche". Rotten Tomatoes .