From Beginning to End

Even though the subject matter may repel some, as the film begins it immediately immerses the viewer into the family life of brothers Thomas and Francisco. The film is fearless and daring in many ways as its touches on some very taboo subject matters. It slowly creeps up to you, but once this drama sees the boys as grown men, it takes a very nostalgic mood. There is a very haunting aspect to this film that will leave you lulled and wanting more. There is also a certain amount of sadness eminent from the fantastic performances from Rafael Cardoso and João Gabriel Vasconcellos. Both these men light up the screen, and their chemistry was incendiary with a very fierce dynamic relationship that takes twists and turns in many directions but ultimately leaves you yearning for what was once between them. The film is pretty much about life changes and how some of the best times are hard to let go as mere memories. Both brothers, in their own way, must deal with life's changes and its unexpectedness. Very poetic and always eloquent in its storytelling, dealing with such difficult subject matter was flawlessly handled sensitively in the very capable hands of Aluisio Abranches. Brazil should be proud to have this film. It represents very well the beautiful people of Brazil, their culture and it give you great insight of a culture that is filled with traditions as well as strong family and community ties.

As the movie beautifully unfolds, we explore and observe a relationships and how difficult it can be to let go of the tie that binds.

FROM BEGINNING TO END (Do Começo ao Fim) is the work of writer/director Aluzio Abranches who was born and raised in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He graduated in Economics before going to the London International Film School, in 1983. His first feature- film, 'Um Copo de Cólera' (1999) was acclaimed in several international film festivals. In 2002 his second feature-film, As três Marias (The Three Marias) also was selected to various festivals abroad. His latest movie, 'Do Começo ao Fim' (From Beginning to End) tells a story about two male half-brothers who fall in love. The movie caused tremendous controversy as some people loved the delicate relationship between them and others who were outraged by the suggestion of incest. Nevertheless, it is undeniable it was groundbreaking for the homosexual Brazilian cinematography, being selected to over 25 international film festivals, many of them dedicated to the gay pride and film production.

Though the feelings of viewers continues to be quite mixed, hopefully in time the film as an art work will be better appreciated. It is an exquisite study of family in a different light than any other film has probed. Julieta (Júlia Lemmertz) is currently married to Alexandre (Fábio Assunção) and they have a child Thomás who according to the narrator - the half brother Francisco from Julieta's previous marriage to Pedro (Jean Pierre Noher) - was born with his eyes closed and kept them closed except for looking at his new brother. Into this loving atmosphere the two brothers are close, enjoying each other's company in play and adventures and proximity. Francisco as a child is played by Lucas Cotrim and Thomás as a child is played by Gabriel Kaufmann. Thomás idolizes his big brother and Francisco looks to Thomás for secure love. The boys visit Pedro (Francisco's father) in Buenos Aires at Christmas and Pedro discusses with Julieta that he is concerned that the boys are too close, a fact that Julieta acknowledges but assures Pedro that this is normal in boys their age. At home in Rio de Janeiro Alexandre poses the same concern, but the two young boys are so happy and successful in school and sports that the subject is dropped. Pedro dies, then Julieta dies, and the two now grown young lads have only their shared father Alexandre to parent them. As young very handsome, athletic men Francisco (now played by João Gabriel Vasconcellos) and Thomás ( Rafael Cardosa) are left alone in their home and their relationship deepens into a physical one. The lads deeply love each other and their physical love is as wondrously portrayed as their love as half brothers. They exchange rings. They both are dedicated swimmers, but Thomás is better and is offer to go to Russia to train for the Olympics. The idea of separation deeply troubles them both, but Francisco's love for Thomás sees the importance to his brothers career and off Thomás goes to Russia. While the lads are separated they yearn for each other: Francisco attempts to assuage his longing with a young girl but his commitment to Thomás is stronger. The film ends in a statement of commitment and love between these two extraordinary men.

The physical aspects of the relationship are beautifully captured in the sensitive cinematography by Ueli Steiger: the acts are passionate but visually subtle. The musical score by André Abujamra adds another realm of power to the story's character. Each of the actors in the film is excellent. It is rare that broken family stories have been shared with such grace and delicacy. And both Vasconcellos and Cardoso seem to have a fine career ahead of them.

FROM BEGINNING TO END should not be labeled as a gay film even though it allows the viewer to see the power of same sex relationships in a beautifully described new light. This is, simply, a fine film and Aluzio Abranches deserves kudos for his accomplishment.

Grady Harp

I don't understand why mutually consenting sex between brothers near the same age is a big deal. It's not as if they would produce deformed offspring. That particular taboo makes no sense to me. I'm not advocating gay incest, but horror at the idea of sex between brothers – even in a movie, and even among gay men – mystifies me. I've never been at all attracted to my own brother, but two brothers' falling in love in a movie does not make me the least bit uncomfortable. I don't feel compelled to try to twist it into something else that's more acceptable.

People who say it's easy to forget that Francisco and Thomás are brothers in the latter half of the movie must be TRYING to forget it, because the movie never stops affirming the fact that that's what they are. Fighting that battle while trying to enjoy a movie must detract a lot from the enjoyment.

This is a flawed but interesting and unusual movie, and I can understand why even the many positive reviews it gets have trouble describing it. It has been called a fairy tale because Francisco and Thomás seem to live in a dream world as cut off from the real world as Sleeping Beauty in her castle. But aren't all young lovers like that? Isn't that what love and hormones do to young people? Doesn't the rest of the world tend to fall away when the beloved comes into view? That's how it was when I was young.

So to say that this is a fairly tale is simply to say that it is a love story. It's an unusual love story, but fundamentally it is just like any other romance movie. If anything, its depiction of the all-consuming ecstasy of young love is MORE realistic than most movies are, not less.

Others have emphasized the parents' evident oblivion or even acquiescence to what is going on under their noses, but that seems to me like just another symptom of the irrational taboo I mentioned earlier. It's like: "What those boys are doing is WRONG! Why don't their parents stop it?" But, again, I ask: Why? Who is hurting whom? Nobody that I can see.

When they're children, they simply love each other and love to be together, and they are freely affectionate with each other. Is that bad? Why? Should the mother slap her son when he kisses his younger brother on the head or puts his arm around him or holds him while they sleep? Why? Is fighting better? Is sibling rivalry better than sibling affection? Evidently it is to many people.

Neither of those is what I see as a weakness in this movie. It's true that the movie is unreal, but what seems most unreal to me is not the brothers' relationship with each other or with their parents. That's just an extraordinarily loving and mutually accepting family, which is almost never seen in a movie or in real life but should be everybody's ideal of what a family ought to be. If that's not the unconditional love people rave about nowadays, I don't know what is.

What seems most unreal to me is the other adults' relationships with each other, the fantastically loving relationships between exes and in-laws and friends who are NOT in love with each other, who are NOT caught up in the heady ecstasy of hormones and young love. That excess of affection is just plain weird.

Another weakness I see is in the dialog. The core story about the brothers is fine – it's a love story – but what people say to each other is stilted and awkward, not at all the way real people talk. It's like the way people talk in TV commercials. And the problem is not just in the English subtitles, which actually are very good: what they're saying in Portuguese sounds just as phony.

And the final weakness I see is in the direction. The director seems to be trying to make something besides JUST a love story, but what that other something is never comes clear. It feels as if he is intentionally trying to make it an allegory, or an epic myth, or a ballet, or something else abstract that wrestles constantly with the extremely simple love story which the movie actually is.

The scene in which the adult brothers slowly undress for the first time as they face each other across the room is particularly strange, like something out of a kabuki performance. That obscure tension between what the movie is and what the director is trying to make it be doesn't ruin the movie, but it IS distracting.

All four actors who play the two brothers as children and then as adults are very good and very beautiful, inside and out. What the director did an EXCELLENT job of is getting straight actors (which I assume they all are) to be so convincingly loving toward each other. Every affectionate gesture, every touch, every loving look is totally convincing. That could NEVER happen in an American or Canadian movie, or even in a European movie, and I've never seen it in any other movie from Latin America. It is a unique and astonishing accomplishment.

The director also gets credit for the movie's other great accomplishment, which is simply that it got made. A movie about love, passion, unshakable devotion, loyalty, innocence, tenderness and limitless generosity between two men is rarer than hens' teeth. The scene in which they exchange wedding rings alone together at home is one of the sweetest, sexiest scenes I have ever seen. I have never seen any other movie that even comes close to the love between these two men, and I have seen hundreds and hundreds of gay movies. This is far from the best of them, but it is the most wonderful.

I got this movie out on DVD without knowing too much about it and I was absolutely blown away. It is such a touching and romantic movie. I know it has taboo topics but they are handled so gently and with such acceptance by the film makers and the the characters within the story. It truly moved me in a way a film has never done for me before. It is probably not for everyone due to some of it's taboo content, but honestly, it should be viewed regardless. It is such an exquisite portrayal and will really make you think. I cannot praise this movie more highly. Forget the mind-numbing exploitative offerings of The Hangover or Bridesmaids, and see what great film can accomplish.

Do Começo ao Fim - FROM BEGINNING TO END – CATCH IT ( B+ ) Brazilian movie "Do Começo ao Fim" is a visual treat along with moving performances by João Gabriel Vasconcellos and Rafael Cardoso. This movie talks about the taboo topic of half brothers falling in Incestuous relationship & Love. Though the movie deals with sensitive and hardcore subject matter but the movie not for a second seems like anything different than a Love Story. I loved what one of the reviewer mentioned on IMDb that this movie reflects the Dream World where the Incestuous Love between Half brothers is nothing more than merely LOVE. The movie starts off with Francisco & Thomás, when they are young kids. From there the whole beauty of caring for each other was represented in a very decent way plus how the mother & Francisco's father started to feel that they are more closer than they are suppose too. I loved the way movie was progressing but then suddenly the death of Pedro (Francisco's father) & 10 years later the death of their Mother changed the movie into another direction. The movie didn't show how the boys dealt with these feeling as teenagers, because I believe that's the toughest part or Maybe as I have mentioned before the director was living in Dream World. so, from there we were left with Intimate Love of Francisco & Thomás. The Love scene between João Gabriel Vasconcellos and Rafael Cardoso was pasteurized exquisitely & the dialogues were splendidly powerful. After that movie went off to Love & Long Distance relationship between Francisco & Thomás, which was heartfelt to watch because of outstanding chemistry between João Gabriel Vasconcellos and Rafael Cardoso. João Gabriel Vasconcellos and Rafael Cardoso are exceptionally gorgeous and their chemistry and performance was very natural & touchy. There was not a second when I felt like they were merely two actors playing falling in Love because the way they behave around each other & looked at each other, it was all LOVE. Lucas Cotrin as young Francisco & Gabriel Kaufmann as young Thomás were treat to watch. They were funny, caring & shared an awesome chemistry. Júlia Lemmertz looked elegant & exquisite, if I was the director I would have loved to see the whole family dealing with this issue but somehow Director lived the Dream Charming World. Fábio Assunção Jean Pierre Noher and Louise Cardoso were good in their parts. Overall, watch it for Erotic & Intimate chemistry between João Gabriel Vasconcellos and Rafael Cardoso along with Stunning Cinematography.