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.
DVD Features:
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
Featurette: "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
Source Writer
Walt Curtis: Maverick poet/wrote novel for MALA NOCHE
Review 1:
4 stars out of 5 -- "The gorgeous, dreamy misfits of Gus Van Sant's MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO could just as easily have sprung from his low-budget debut..."
Source: Total Film
p.155 05/01/2008
Review 2:
"Shot in high-contrast black and white and scored to gentle Tex-Mex acoustic ballads, this is an empathetic piercing movie..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.97 02/01/2008