Before the Rain (1994)

In the republic of Macedonia, amid war in Bosnia, an Albanian girl being hunted by Christians is offered protection by a monk who has taken a vow of silence.

Director:

Milcho Manchevski

Writer:

Milcho Manchevski

Stars:

Katrin Cartlidge, Rade Serbedzija, Grégoire Colin

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 19 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Grégoire Colin	...	Kiril (as Gergoire Colin)
Josif Josifovski	...	Father Marko
Boris Delcevski	...	Petre
Dejan Velkov	...	Mate
Kiril Ristoski	...	Father Damjan
Mladen Krstevski	...	Trifun
Dzemail Maksut	...	Kuzman
Labina Mitevska	...	Zamira
Mile Jovanovski	...	Priest Singing at Funeral
Milica Stojanova	...	Aunt Cveta
Petar Mircevski	...	Zdrave
Rade Serbedzija	...	Aleksander
Ljupco Bresliski	...	Mitre
Igor Madzirov	...	Stojan
Kiril Psaltirov	...	Mome

Storyline

The circularity of violence seen in a story that circles on itself. In Republic of 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:

endless loop | violence | monk | albanian | photographer | 

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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

Official Sites:

Official website

Country:

Republic of Macedonia France UK

Language:

Macedonian English Albanian French

Release Date:

24 February 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Before the Rain

Filming Locations:

Skopje, Macedonia

Box Office

Budget:

$1,900,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$763,847

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

Before the Rain (1994) contains quotations from William Shakespeare's plays "Romeo and Juliet", "Hamlet" and "MacBeth".

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Goofs

Aleksander is shoot in the back, but when the body is moved we can see the bullet holes not in his back but in his chest.

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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 film begins with a pan over a Macedonian sky covered by dark clouds at dusk. We hear sounds of thunder, when an epigraph from the novel "Dervis i smrt" (The Dervish and Death) by Mesa Selimovic appears on the screen, while a voice is heard reading it: "With a shriek birds flee across the black sky, people are silent, my blood aches from waiting". Afterwards, the titles appear.

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Connections

References On the Waterfront (1954)

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Soundtracks

Nine Iron Doors
Composed By Anastasia
Arranged and Produced by Anastasia
© 1994 PolyGram
(P) 1994 PolyGram

User Reviews

unforgettable and illuminating

i saw this film last year and for the rest of the day could not shake the emotional response it had provoked within me. totally original in its construction, it makes the "inventive" timelines of tarantino's work look childish and simplistic. this film tells so many stories and helped me understand the balkan conflict in a new light-- i can't reccomend it highly enough. one of the greatest in recent memory. absolutely beautiful photography. repeat viewings don't diminish its impact-- a rare achievement, especially for a film that is built on what could have easily been a formal 'gimmick'-- but the semi-cyclic form serves the film and heightens the impact and the meaning.