Going legit after a life of crime can be difficult, as we find in Beginnings.

Synopsis

After getting released from jail, a man attempts to leave his life of crime behind only to be pressured by his old crew to continue his old ways.

Review

We’ve got a real treat here with Beginnings. It’s the first film by Julio Ponce Palmieri, shot on 16mm back in 2004. That’s when dinosaurs roamed the land for all you kids reading this.

It’s a treat because we get a glimpse into the humble beginnings (no pun intended) of a filmmaker. It used to be rare where we could see a filmmaker evolve, but that’s becoming increasingly less so. Digital has not only transformed how we watch and make films, but also the speed at which they are promulgated throughout the world.

The next Spielbergs and Scorceses don’t have to wait years between projects. They can move on to the next one (or two or three) almost immediately. The evolution is accelerating. And so we have here the start of Mr. Palmieri’s career.

Family is a major theme that runs throughout the plot. As well it should, as Frank has come to a transition point in his life and is finding that he would also want to have a family, if only he could get out of the life of a criminal. For many this is a mutually exclusive arrangement.

Starting over follows family hand-in-hand in Beginnings. When Frank receives the cross from his mother, something he was supposed to inherit on his 18th birthday but was in jail, he doesn’t feel like he deserves it. His mother puts it around his neck anyway. In a way she is saying to him silently, “You’re starting over. You can always start over.”

But the lure of easy money and crime can be too much, as we see Frank get dragged back into his other so-called “family”, one that left him hanging high and dry in prison for eight years. But he doesn’t go lightly back into the situation; he shows some backbone and stands up to his former family so he can move forward and have a real one of his own.

His ex-gang members try to force his hand though, setting him off on a path of violence. It was nice to see Frank stick to his beliefs and not fall back into a life of crime and cyclic killings. When the boss, Don Giuseppe, shows up and lays out the fact that “family is sacred”, we know there is an order and rule to this crew of criminals and a strong penalty for breaking those rules.

Frank essentially wins his freedom from the gang by exposing who framed him eight years prior and also killed his mother. Frank’s honor is restored, but now he must accept that his new path in life is to do what his mother told him silently when he came back home: you can always start over.

Sound is well-balanced and there’s enough of a mix of wild, foley, dialogue, and music that seems just right. None of them compete with one another by raising their levels in an audio arms race. You do tend to hear some humming in the background of a few parts but that is most likely due to having an air conditioner or heater running at the location and not having any control over it. It happens and you try to work around it on set or in post. It’s not anything major though.

I was amazed to see the amount of camera motivation, angles, and shots in Beginnings. Most first-time films you tend to get a lot of static shots and not a lot of coverage. This was happily avoided here, as there is a lot of movement but nothing that went over-the-top. It helped pull me into each scene rather than make me feel like I’m standing on the outside of a glass pane looking at a museum exhibit. The cast and crew got up and out on the streets, providing a nice variety of scenery, although this may have cost more in time for shooting unless the locations were close together.

If you’re interested in the latest offering by Mr. Palmieri, check out his web series 2012. I also have it on good authority that he is already busy making his next series.

What did you think of Beginnings? Leave a comment below.

Information

Genre: Crime Drama
Country: Canada
Release Year: 2004
Runtime: 20 min 47 sec
Written by: Julio Ponce Palmieri
Directed by: Vince De Marinis
Cast: Zan Calabretta, Antonietta Paolini, Maurizio Ventrone, Anthony Morizio, Angelo Rosso, Luis Fernandez, Gaetano Girasolo, Harry Mouratidis, Julio Ponce Palmieri, Juan
Vimeo Channel: jponcepalmieri
YouTube Channel: MrQuetzal
Twitter: jponcepalmieri