Mala Noche **** (1986, Tim Streeter, Doug Cooeyate, Ray Monge) – Classic Movie Review 9545

Writer-director Gus Van Sant’s hilarious 1986 fable of illicit love and muddled lifestyles Mala Noche stars Tim Strecter as gay shop clerk Walt Curtis, who falls head-over-heels for a teenaged illegal Mexican migrant worker, Johnny Alonzo (Doug Cooeyate). Johnny speaks no English and finds Walt weird.

Shot in Portland, Oregon, on a shoestring budget, Mala Noche is a film that crackles with wit, originality and energy, marking Van Sant out as a director of undeniable talent, here making his first film.

Walt Curtis, who came up with the story, also plays George. Gus Van Sant has a cameo as Guy at Hotel.

It is the winner of the 1987 Los Angeles Film Critics award for best independent film of 1986.

Also in the cast are Ray Monge, Nyla McCarthy and Sam Downey.

Its budget was $25,000, it grossed $25,386 in the US, and took $62,743 worldwide.

It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 1986 and later screened at Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Mala Noche is directed by Gus Van Sant, runs 78 minutes, is made by Northern Film, is written by Gus Van Sant, based on Walt Curtis’s story, is shot in Black and White by John J Campbell, is produced by Gus Van Sant, is scored by Creighton Lindsay.

Mala Noche is Spanish for Bad NIght.

It is now part of the Criterion Collection.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9545

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