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MOVIES / ON DVD / MALA NOCHE
Mala Noche

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Mala Noche (1985)

94%
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94 %
Reviews Counted: 17 Fresh: 16  Rotten:1 Average Rating: 7.6/10
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 78 mins
Synopsis:
Shot on a shoestring in 1985, this gently paced debut from Gus Van Sant (DRUGSTORE COWBOY) follows liquor-store cashier, Walt (Tim Streeter), in his one-sided affection for Johnny, a Mexican day laborer. Filmed in grainy black and white, MALA NOCHE (Spanish for "bad night") arranges itself... [More]
Shot on a shoestring in 1985, this gently paced debut from Gus Van Sant (DRUGSTORE COWBOY) follows liquor-store cashier, Walt (Tim Streeter), in his one-sided affection for Johnny, a Mexican day laborer. Filmed in grainy black and white, MALA NOCHE (Spanish for "bad night") arranges itself into a series of poetic, and often heartbreaking, vignettes around Portland's skid row, as Walt pursues his reluctant obsession. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Tim Streeter, Ray Monge

Director: Gus Van Sant

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 23, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Mono - English

Additional Release Materials:

  • Featurettes - "Walt Curtis, the Peckerneck Poet"
  • Interviews - Gus Van Sant - Director
  • Trailers - Original Theatrical Trailer (edited by Gus Van Sant)

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Essays - Dennis Lim

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image

Too artsy for its own good.

Full Review | Comment
02/06/08 05:50 AM
Phil Hall
Film Threat
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The film is a study in infatuation and rejection, euphoria and frustration, and Van Sant observes their dance of desire and dismissal and wary coexistence without judgment.

Full Review | Comment
12/13/07 11:05 AM
Sean Axmaker
Turner Classic Movies Online
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Gritty, dirty, lyrical, altogether sensual.

Full Review | Comment
11/05/07 04:42 PM
Rob Humanick
Slant Magazine
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
09/15/07 04:20 AM
Denver Post
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It serves as Milepost 1 on Van Sant's highway to success.

Full Review | Comment
09/07/07 07:11 PM
Marc Mohan
Oregonian
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Even at the start of his career, Van Sant has always been an artist who has savored the bittersweet pleasure of sadness and pain.

Full Review | Comment
09/01/07 03:58 AM
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
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Of all Van Sant's movies, Mala Noche is the rawest, most personal, and least freighted. It's the one fans should see for the simplest inkling into Van Sant's complex artistic roots.

Full Review | Comment
06/15/07 01:46 PM
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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Van Sant would later refine some of the blunter stylistic turns into a wondrous visual poetry; his ability to capture the addictive pull of desire, however, remains compelling even in its crudest state.

Full Review | Comment
06/02/07 03:44 AM
Melissa Anderson
Time Out New York
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Underseen but not exactly neglected, Mala Noche isn't in the same league as the recent smash IFC revival of Killer of Sheep. But this small, sensitive, wondrously likable debut occupies a nearby nook in the DIY pantheon.

Full Review | Comment
05/29/07 06:17 PM
Nathan Lee
Village Voice
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Offbeat, offhand, and at times off-the-wall.

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 03:50 AM
Mark Salisbury
Time Out
Ratings Image

Shot on a cutrate stock with meager budget ($25,000), Van Sant's debut, about a doomed romance between a liquor store clerk and a sMexican immigrant, shows an iconoclast with nihilistic sensibility and fresh POV on down-and-out characters in America.

Full Review | Comment
05/02/06 01:28 PM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

A very well-made movie, terse and to the point, nicely photographed by John Campbell and written and directed by Mr. Van Sant with sardonic humor.

Full Review | Comment
08/30/04 10:17 PM
Vincent Canby
New York Times
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Van Sant's frequently astonishing script is funny and passionate, his editing savvy, and his choice of music perfect as he freely and unapologetically celebrates Walt's love of Mexican boys.

Full Review | Comment
07/30/03 05:16 PM
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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Poignant and charming by turns.

Full Review | Comment
05/24/03 08:18 AM
Channel 4 Film
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This is a knockout debut.

Full Review | Comment
05/24/03 08:18 AM
Hal Hinson
Washington Post
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It shouldn't be missed.

Full Review | Comment
05/24/03 08:18 AM
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
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If witnessing raw talent at work excites you, then see this diamond-in-the-rough in its return engagement.

Full Review | Comment
05/24/03 08:18 AM
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle
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A richly beguiling experience.

Full Review | Comment
05/24/03 08:18 AM
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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