Directed by:
Milcho ManchevskiScreenplay:
Milcho ManchevskiCinematography:
Manuel TeranCast:
Katrin Cartlidge, Rade Serbedzija, Grégoire Colin, Labina Mitevska, Phyllida Law, Meto Jovanovski, Daniel Newman, Vladimir Jacev, Josif Josifovski (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
The first film made in the newly independent Republic of Macedonia, Milcho Manchevski's Before the Rain crosscuts the stories of an orthodox Christian monk (Grégoire Colin), a British photo agent (Katrin Cartlidge), and a native Macedonian war photographer (Rade Serbedzija) to paint a portrait of simmering, entrenched ethnic and religious hatred about to reach its boiling point. Made during the strife of the war-torn Balkan states in the nineties, this gripping triptych of love and violence is also a timeless evocation of the loss of pastoral innocence, and remains one of recent cinema's most poetic evocations of the futility of war. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (2)
I have never seen a movie from Macedonia. That’s why I was quite looking forward to this piece. In its three short stories, the movie depicted everyday lives of three different people, expertly combining them into a single framing story. If you are able to imagine the Balkans in its harshest form, brace yourself for Before the Rain. Nevertheless, even bracing yourself might not be enough.
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Before the Rain is not primarily about war, but rather about how it mentally affects everyone involved, including immigrants living in relative safety. It suffers from a certain unevenness and is certainly not one of the best European films of the 90s, but due to the burning topic of the Balkan war, it is a film worth seeing. Of the three stories, I liked the first one the most, where the attractive Labina Mitevska made her debut in the role of Albanian girl Zamira. The love affair between two religiously and ethnically divided teenagers in the backdrop of an Orthodox monastery, and also at a time when tension and hatred are growing every day, if not every hour, is worth a separate movie. Overall impression: 75%.
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Gallery (23)
Photo © Vardar Film
![Before the Rain - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/000/402/402032_54941f.jpg)
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