Director Gus Van Sant's first film, a 78-minute, independently-financed drama shot in high-contrast black-and-white, which Van Sant also produced, edited, and wrote (from a story by Walt Curtis, which happens to be the leading character's name). The plot--about a gay cashier in a liquor store who befriends two Mexican teenagers on the run from Immigration--is more sexually upfront than Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho" from 1991, but this no-budget effort has even less meat on its bones (and less on its mind). Stylishly rendered with an artistic eye, but dramatically it doesn't hold together (the cashier, having been sternly rebuffed by the heterosexual boy he's "in love" with, keeps trying to win his affection, which doesn't make him seem desperate so much as deluded). The performances are uneven, and the action during a police raid is rendered nearly incoherent by Van Sant's sloppy compositions and editing; still, there's an atmosphere and an ambiance about the picture that stays with one, and the director's attentive eyes give hint of his burgeoning talent. *1/2 from ****

There are few gay, or straight, films which fling such disturbed and desperate lead characters into the sparkly gutter like Mala Noche. That summary is trite at best, but to watch this movie is to fall into a film noir which won't give you any love back. Excellent and gobsmackingly short-ish cash register rings of warning. Don't embrace these sickly, nasty characters, but do get enveloped. You can't help it. Everyone sucks, everyone is dirty, nasty, and sadly dreamy. Gus made a gorgeous pile of human stink with this one, and it is completely addictive. Fabulous film. Gus Van Sant may have jumped the shark with some later stuff, but this, boy, this is good. Fans of grit say: Must see.

Gus Van Sant's debut is like a dry-run for "My Own Private Idaho" made on a shoe-string in grainy monochrome on the streets and in the stores and apartments of Portland, Oregon. It's not about anything other than the passion felt by Walt, a store clerk played by Tim Streeter, for Johnny, a young Mexican tearaway with little or no English who acknowledges his feelings but doesn't reciprocate them. Its free-wheeling, unfettered sensibility has made it a seminal film for both Independent and New Queer Cinema and it's a lot more likable, (and perversely, more accessible), than most of Van Sant's later output. It also makes great use of Tex-Mex music and the 'non-performances' of the three boys who take centre stage have an off-the-wall quality that has nothing to do with 'acting' but feels nicely naturalistic. (All three boys are actually quite engaging in their disparate ways). Short, sharp and sweet.

'Mala Noche': is it just me, or do these words sound beautiful together? As a native Portuguese speaker (English is my second language), it's funny for me to realize that those beautiful-sounding words mean, plainly, "bad night". I guess Gus Van Sant also thought they sounded much nicer in Spanish, and didn't call his debut film "Bad Night"."Mala Noche" is based on an autobiographical novel by Walt Curtis (played by Tim Streeter), the young manager of a liquor store who falls in love with a Mexican lad (Doug Cooyeate), an illegal immigrant who doesn't speak English. Shot in black-and-white 16MM for only $25,000, the film lacks the wholesomeness of Van Sant's following movies, more notably his masterpiece, "My Own Private Idaho" (1991). The acting varies from mediocre (Streeter) to plain bad (Cooyeate and most of the supporting cast), but in spite of the below par actors and the extremely low budget, Van Sant managed to create some beautiful scenes, already demonstrating his raw sense of street-life poetry. Creighton Lindsay is responsible for a sensitive music score. In spite of its flaws, "Mala Noche" deserves to be seen by those who admire the work of one of the most influential and daring American indie filmmakers. 8/10.