Before the Rain (1994)

The circularity of violence seen in a story that circles on itself. In Macedonia, during war in Bosnia, Christians hunt an ethnic Albanian girl who may have murdered one of their own. A ... See full summary »

Director:

Milcho Manchevski

Writer:

Milcho Manchevski

Stars:

Katrin Cartlidge, Rade Serbedzija, Grégoire Colin

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Kiril Ristoski	...	Father Damjan
Petar Mircevski	...	Zdrave
Ljupco Bresliski	...	Mitre
Igor Madzirov	...	Stojan
Ilko Stefanovski	...	Bojan
Suzana Kirandziska	...	Neda
Katerina Kocevska	...	Kate

Storyline

The circularity of violence seen in a story that circles on itself. In Macedonia, during war in Bosnia, Christians hunt an ethnic Albanian girl who may have murdered one of their own. A young monk who's taken a vow of silence offers her protection. In London, a photographic editor who's pregnant needs to talk it out with her estranged husband and chooses a toney restaurant. She wants permanence with her lover, a prize-winning Macedonian photographer just back from Bosnia, changed by the violence. He leaves abruptly for his village; he's not visited it in 16 years. There he tries to ignore bitter divisions between his Orthodox brethren and local Albanians, then tries to transcend them.

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Plot Keywords:

photographer | macedonia | violence | bosnia | monk | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Macedonia France UK

Language:

Macedonian English Albanian French

Release Date:

24 February 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prije kiše

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross:

$763,847 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aim, British Screen Productions, European Co-production Fund

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First Macedonian movie to be nominated for an Oscar.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

Father Marko: Time never dies. The circle is never round.

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Crazy Credits

The movie starts with a shot of a Macedonian sky covered with dark clouds at dusk, with sounds of thunder, when an epigraph from a poem by Mesa Selimovic appears on the screen, with voice heard as though from on high, reading it: "With a shriek birds flee across the black sky, people are silent, my blood aches from waiting" Afterwards, the credits start to roll on black screen.

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Connections

References On the Waterfront (1954)

User Reviews

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.