A Most Violent Year

JANUARY 31, 1981

Over black we hear the opening of a garage door. The light

spills in and we see.

EXT. UPPER MIDDLE CLASS RESIDENTIAL HOUSE, QUEENS NYC -

SUNRISE:

Open on ABEL MORALES. It is early morning and still almost

dark out. He has a rugged yet prosperously-handsome face and

is in his mid-thirties. He is struggling to get started with

his morning jog.

EXT. SHIP GRAVEYARD, STATEN ISLAND NYC - DAY

It is early morning. A large bulk fuel oil transport truck

sits idling next to a decrepit old dock. The dock sticks into

a backwater section of New York harbor that is filled with

the decaying remains of half-sunken abandoned barges and tug

boats.

JULIAN, the young driver of the truck sits and nervously

scans the horizon. Eventually a large fuel barge appears in

the distance being pushed by a tug boat. The barge is steered

past the skeletons of the other sunken ships and makes its

way to the dock in front of the tanker truck.

JULIAN gets out of his truck and readies a large connecting

hose. He looks around nervously. JULIAN steps across the

broken boards of the dock and struggles to get the hose to

the barge. He hands it to the BARGE OPERATOR with a nod of

the head and no words.

They connect the hose and start a large generator as it

begins to pump fuel into the truck. They both scan the

horizon again as the sun begins to come up.

EXT. MORE INDUSTRIAL QUEENS NEIGHBORHOOD- SAME TIME

ABEL is still jogging as the light begins to increase. It is

freezing out. He is a very serious guy. He is not happy that

he is out of shape. Finally he stops and bends over to catch

his breath. We have run with him from the nicer part of the

neighborhood to a rougher section. As he catches his breath

he stands up and looks around. He is unsure of his feelings.

3

INT. ANNA’S DRESSING AREA

The camera slowly moves in as ANNA sits in a slip at her make

up table putting on her face for the day ahead. She looks

into the mirror as if she is putting on a coat of armor.

INT. DRIVER’S CAB OF A BULK OIL TRANSPORT TRUCK - DAY

STANDARD HEATING OIL, “We set the Standard” is written in

logo form on the side of the tank.

The truck idles in traffic waiting to pay the toll to cross

the Verrazano bridge that spans the mouth of New York harbor.

JULIAN, the young driver from the dock, cautiously looks

around as the traffic inches along. He finally approaches the

toll booth and pays.

JULIAN:

Good morning.

JULIAN speaks English with a well-sanded accent. Is it

Central American or Mexican? The female collector gives him a

smile.

He heads through the booth, but there is still traffic on the

other side as the lanes merge together. Just as the traffic

is about to pick up he looks in his rearview mirror and we

see TWO GUYS come walking through the traffic and towards the

cab. Before we know it they are climbing up the cab steps.

The GUY on the driver’s side, LOUIS SERVIDIO, is small and

very slight but he moves with great speed and strength. He

shatters the glass side window with his elbow. Unlocks the

door just as his partner, THUG #2, does the same thing on the

passenger side, but he is holding a gun. They are not wearing

masks. It’s very brazen.

Before THUG #2 even asks JULIAN to get out of the cab LOUIS

SERVIDIO crushes him in the jaw with three swift punches then

pulls him out of the cab and down onto the roadway.

LOUIS SERVIDIO pulls the door shut and they drive away with

the truck leaving JULIAN sitting in the middle of the road

staring, as blood starts to flow from his jaw.

INT. PARKING YARD OF STANDARD HEATING OIL- SAME TIME

Two almost-matching late model Mercedes pull up to a chain-

link gate with a small sign that says “STANDARD HEATING OIL:

WE SET THE STANDARD”. The DISPATCHER opens the gate.

4

They both pull into reserved parking spaces next to each

other. ABEL is dressed in a very tasteful custom made suit.

ABEL’s wife ANNA was driving the car behind him. She is a

beautiful, tall, blonde woman dressed to the nines but with a

streak in her eye that this is all business. You would not

want to cross this woman.

ABEL:

Ready?

ANNA:

Yes.

ABEL:

You look very nice.

ANNA:

Thank you.

ABEL:

You sure?

ANNA:

Yes.

ABEL walks around and opens his trunk. He takes out two large

empty briefcases.

He carries the briefcases as they both walk over to a large,

unmarked, armored van that is idling in the middle of the

parking lot. Two ARMED GUARDS get out of the van. One is

holding a clipboard. He walks up to ANNA and ABEL. He hands

them the clipboard. They look at each other one last time and

then both sign the document.

The other GUARD opens up the back of the truck. ABEL hands

him the briefcases and the guard begins to fill them with

cash. Lots of cash. ABEL and ANNA stand at the open back of

the van and just watch. Finally he finishes and hands the now-

heavy cases to ABEL.

ABEL picks up the two cases and walks a bit away from the

truck. He turns to ANNA.

ANNA (CONT’D)

Don’t do anything stupid.

ABEL:

We don’t have any more money so

what else could I do.

She gives a small smile. He looks at his watch. They kiss.

5

ABEL turns and begins walking with the cases. He gives a nod

to the DISPATCHER, who we now see, is in a small gatehouse,

and he begins to open the front gate.

EXT. STREET OUTSIDE THE FRONT GATE- SAME TIME

ABEL walks out through the gate and down the abandoned

industrial street about 25 yards, then looks to his right. He

looks down at the cases in his hands, turns, and stands

looking into the neighboring site.

EXT. MASSIVE OIL TANK FARM: BROOKLYN NY WATERFRONT - DAY

ABEL comes walking across the parking lot and sees ANDREW

WALSH standing in the middle of the dusty parking lot. ANDREW

is their longtime LAWYER/RIGHT-HAND MAN and is in his mid

fifties. He is smart but tired. The oversized briefcase in

his left hand seems to have permanently tilted his posture

that direction. The large oil-holding tanks loom above them.

The place is rusting and could use some work.

As they wait, the setting has the look and choreography of an

illegal transaction about to go down.

ANDREW WALSH:

So how are we this morning?

ABEL:

(gives a smile and nod)

ANDREW WALSH:

Well I woke up feeling very good

about this.

ABEL:

Really?

They both take a look at their watches.

ABEL (CONT’D)

You’ve been telling me not to do

this for a year.

ANDREW WALSH:

Well we are going all in... so now

I love it.

Gives him another slight smile. They stand around in awkward

silence. Finally a late-model Ford Ltd. station wagon pulls

into the lot.

6

ANDREW WALSH (CONT’D)

Here we go.

And a group of FIVE HASIDIC JEWS gets out. There are two guys

in their twenties, two in their fifties, and one in his midto-

late seventies. They all shake each other’s hands then

stand around for a beat.

ANDREW WALSH (CONT’D)

Should we head inside?

INT. SMALL TEMPORARY OFFICE TRAILER - DAY

The group is now jammed around a folding table inside the

trailer. ABEL and his lawyer sit at one end facing the rest

of them. Finally, the senior member of the group, JOSEPH

MENDELSOHN, eyes up ABEL and leans forward. His accent is

strong yet you can understand every word.

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