''From Beginning to End'' ( pt, Do Começo ao Fim) is a 2009 Brazilian

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Aluizio Abranches ''Aluizio Abranches'' is a Brazilian film director. Graduated in cinema at ''London Film School'' and in economics at ''Universidade Cândido Mendes'', Aluizio became known for taking to the cinema screens challenging projects, both in their s ...

, starring Fábio Assunção, Júlia Lemmertz, Gabriel Kaufmann, Lucas Cotrim, João Gabriel Vasconcellos and Rafael Cardoso. It premiered in Brazil on November 27, 2009. The film deals with

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

and

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

, two types of relationships that are often considered to be taboo. Abranches claims that his only intention was to tell a love story. The release of the film in Brazil, with only nine copies, was seen by almost 100,000 spectators, leading the film to be on the list of the top 10 most watched Brazilian films of 2009. It was shown in more than 30 national and international festivals, and it was also commercialized in more than 30 countries. In 2010 it was released in DVD in Brazil with success. In France, after a very successful premiere in the cinemas, the first edition of the DVD and Blu-ray was sold out in less than two weeks, and it became a best seller internationally through websites such as

Fnac Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling cultural and electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviation of Fédération Nationale d ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Plot

* 1986 — Thomás is born with his eyes closed, and he does not open them for several weeks following the birth. Julieta, his mother, is unconcerned, believing that when Thomás is ready and wants to open his eyes, he will. These events instill a strong belief in

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

in young Thomás. Two weeks after his birth, Thomás opens his eyes, apparently to look directly at his five-year-old half-brother Francisco. * 1992 — Julieta is a wife and a loving mother, working in a hospital emergency department. Her free-spirited youngest son, Thomás, is the product of her marriage to her second husband Alexandre. Pedro, her first husband and father of her eldest son Francisco, lives in Argentina. Pedro and Julieta remain good friends. During childhood, Francisco and Thomás are very close, perhaps too close according to Pedro, with whom they spend a Christmas holiday in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. Julieta is aware of their close relationship and tries to remain understanding. Not long later, Pedro dies. * 2008 — Years later, when Francisco is 27 and Thomás 22, Julieta dies. The brothers become lovers and a love story ensues. Thomás is invited to live and train in Russia for a few years in preparation for the Olympics. Though it is the first time they will be apart, Thomás leaves. Francisco struggles without Thomás. He meets a woman in a club and though he tries to pursue a relationship with her, they both realize he is dedicated to someone else. Unable to be apart any longer, Francisco travels to Russia and the brothers happily reunite.

Cast

Rafael Cardoso Rafael Cezar Cardoso (born 17 November 1985) is a Brazilian actor. Career He began his career in television, playing small parts on specials on RBS TV in Rio Grande do Sul. His first appearance on national television was in 2008, when he play ...

as Thomás ** Gabriel Kaufmann as Thomás at age six * João Gabriel Vasconcellos as Francisco ** Lucas Cotrim as Francisco at age 11 *

Júlia Lemmertz Júlia Lemmertz Dias (born March 18, 1963) is a Brazilian television, film and stage actress. Biography and career Júlia was born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, to actors Lineu Dias and Lílian Lemmertz. Her career started when she was a ...

as Julieta * Fábio Assunção as Alexandre *

Jean Pierre Noher Jean Pierre Noher (born May 5, 1956) is a French-born Argentine actor. Biography A great-nephew of director Max Ophüls, Noher was born in Paris, in 1956. He relocated to Argentina as a young man, and debuted on Argentine television with a p ...

as Pedro * Louise Cardoso as Rosa * Mausi Martínez

Production

Filming

The film was filmed almost entirely in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, with parts filmed in

, Argentina.

Music

The soundtrack was released in December 2009 and includes music by Brazilian artists such as

Maria Bethânia Maria Bethânia Viana Teles Veloso (; born 18 June 1946) is a Brazilian singer and songwriter. Born in Santo Amaro, Bahia, she started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião" ("Opinion"). Due to its popularity, with performa ...

Angela Ro Ro Angela Maria Diniz Gonçalves (born December 5, 1949), best known by the stage name Angela Ro Ro, based on an onomatopoeia of her laughter, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter influenced by her idols Ella Fitzgerald, Maysa Matarazzo and Jacques Brel ...

, Simone and

Zizi Possi Maria Izildinha "Zizi" Possi (, born March 28, 1956) is a Brazilian singer from São Paulo, the daughter of Italian immigrants. She sings in Portuguese, English, and Italian languages. In 2007, he sang at the opening of the Military World Games, ...

Release

The film attracted more than 10,000 viewers during its weekend debut. Playing in only nine theatres, the film finished sixth place during its opening weekend. The film was shown on May 26, 2010, at the Seattle International Film Festival, on June 26 at the Frameline Film Festival, on July 9 at the Outfest Film Festival, and on July 15 at the QFest.

Marketing

The director put the film's trailer on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, generating more than 400,000 views and comments which ranged from outrage to enthusiasm.

Reception

Box office performance

''From Beginning to End'' grossed $62,081 in nine theatres its opening weekend, $365,094 in second weekend, the film finished sixth place during its opening weekend. The film went on to gross $386,049 in Brazil and $14,373 in Taiwan, for a foreign total of $400,422.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews, some praising it for retaining a good plot while transcending boundaries and others condemning it as an ordinary plot using the subject matter to gain attention.GayCelluloid - David Hall.
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References

External links

* * {{Aluizio Abranches 2009 films 2009 independent films 2009 LGBT-related films 2009 multilingual films 2009 romantic drama films 2000s coming-of-age drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s Portuguese-language films 2000s Spanish-language films Brazilian coming-of-age drama films Brazilian independent films Brazilian LGBT-related films Brazilian multilingual films Brazilian romantic drama films Coming-of-age romance films English-language Brazilian films Films about brothers Films directed by Aluizio Abranches Films set in 1986 Films set in 1992 Films set in 2008 Films set in Argentina Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) Films shot in Buenos Aires Films shot in Rio de Janeiro (city) Gay-related films Incest in film LGBT-related coming-of-age films LGBT-related romantic drama films