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:

Antes de la lluvia

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: I wanted to take a vow of silence, like you. But this heavenly beauty merits words.

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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 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

User Reviews

One of the best movies I've ever seen

Beautiful, hard hitting, but still both simple and realistic. One of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. I saw it the first time in 1997 I think and I've seen it at least twenty times so far and it grows bigger every time. I love this movie and can't give any bad comments about it. Some amy say there are some

beautiful scenes here and some ugly scenes there, but I love it just like it is and it's hard to change that.

Firs, the the acting is excellent and the main character Rade Serbedzija does a wonderful work as a cynical, down-to-earth photographer, who knows he can't

escape his destiny and identity, Katrin Cartlidge does an equally impressive job, as well as a lot o the Macedonian bad and good guys of the film.

Secondly, the cinematography wonderfully depicts the harsh Macedonian

landscapes and sceneries, as well as the torn souls of the land. The music has the same impact and feels so natural with the cinematography.

Finally, I could never complaint about the directors excellent work. This was his debut if I'm not wrong and that was very promising, but I suppose this was his "Citizen Kane" and it'll probably be impossible to make anything similar.

One rarely sees anything from Macedonia.But this is not only good for

Macedonian cinema, it should have won the Oscar that year.