Before the Rain (1994)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Milcho Manchevski

Writer:

Milcho Manchevski (writer)

Release Date:

24 February 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Once You Know The Faces You Will Begin To Understand The Story

Plot:

The circularity of violence seen in a story that circles on itself. In Macedonia, during war in Bosnia...

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Bosnia | Macedonia | Vow Of Silence | Mountain

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 12 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Katrin Cartlidge	...	Anne
Rade Serbedzija	...	Aleksander
Grégoire Colin	...	Kiril
Labina Mitevska	...	Zamira
Jay Villiers	...	Nick
Silvija Stojanovska	...	Hana
Phyllida Law	...	Anne's Mother
Josif Josifovski	...	Father Marko
Kiro Ristevski	...	Father Damjan (as Kiril Ristoski)
Petar Mircevski	...	Zdrave
Ljupco Bresliski	...	Mitre
Igor Madzirov	...	Stojan
Ilko Stefanovski	...	Bojan
Suzana Kirandziska	...	Neda
Katerina Kocevska	...	Kate

Also Known As:

Пред дождот (Republic of Macedonia)
Pred dozhdot (Republic of Macedonia)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Republic of Macedonia | France | UK

Language:

Macedonian | English | Albanian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Aim

Trivia:

First Macedonian movie to be nominated for an Oscar.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the restaurant, over 30 shots are fired with a pistol without reloading.

Quotes:

[first line]
Father Marko: It's going to rain.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in En la cama (2005)

Time is not a Circle, but War is

A poignant tragedy about hatred, war, love and taking sides.

Time is not linear in the movie, but the director blatantly tells us that time is not a circle, so what is? The story is, and perhaps war is.

The story is told in three parts, with highly ironic titles: Words, Faces, and Pictures. Each story has meticulously planned, but highly disturbing parallels. The story-telling of the movie requires diligent planning, down to every single detail, exceptional creativity, and extraordinary persistence. Perhaps that's why the director Milcho Manchevski was fired by both commercial producers Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox for "creative differences"

Before the Rain talks about hate, and how the power of hate can rise above love. It talks about taking sides, the central character in each section tries not to take sides, but circumstances often prove such efforts futile. As with Kiril and Aleksander.

In the film, all events happened before the rain, this sense of urgency, this beautiful sadness, and this inevitable tragedy. Before the Rain is my all time favourite movie.