Before the Rain (film)

Infobox Film | name =Before the Rain
Пред дождот


caption =Before the Rain poster
director = Milčo Mančevski
producer = Marc Baschet
writer = Milčo Mančevski
starring =Katrin Cartlidge
Rade Serbedzija
music = Anastasia
cinematography = Darius Khondji
editing = Nicolas Gaster
distributor = Mikado Film
released = flagicon|Italy 1 September, 1994 (premiere at VFF)
flagicon|USA 24 February, 1995
flagicon|UK 11 August, 1995
runtime = 113 min
country = flagicon|Republic of Macedonia Macedonia
flagicon|UK United Kingdom
language = Macedonian
English
Albanian
budget =
amg_id = 1:133850
imdb_id = 0110882

"Before the Rain" ( _mk. Пред дождот, "Pred doždot") is a 1994 Macedonian film starring Katrin Cartlidge, Rade Šerbedžija, Grégoire Colin, and Labina Mitevska. It was directed and written by Milčo Mančevski. The music was created by the band Anastasia.

Plot

The film is divided into three stories, all of which focus on tragic and ill-fated love affairs. In the first episode, "Words", we meet Kiril, a young monk who has taken a vow of silence, who stands up for Zamira, a young Albanian woman who stands accused of murder and is on the run from a mob. For her sake, Kiril leaves the monastery and the two of them make their way through the beautiful Macedonian landscape. Unfortunately their romance is heading towards a sudden and brutal end.

"Faces" is set in bustling and trendy London. Anne, a beautiful picture editor, is torn between the love of her husband Nick and the attraction she feels for Aleksandar, a disillusioned war photographer. She is pulled into a series of tragic events by a shoot-out at a nearby restaurant.

The third and final story, "Pictures", brings the two previous stories together. It focuses on Aleksandar's return to Macedonia to settle. He learns that the war has divided his home village and that his Albanian neighbours are now seen as enemies. Hana, an Albanian woman he was, and apparently still is, in love with, asks him to take care of her daughter Zamira. While Aleksandar sets out to find the girl, a storm is building on the horizon, and the film returns us to its beginning.

Reception and Box Office

The film grossed $763,847 in the US which is generally much higher than box office performances of other Macedonian films. It has been praised by critics internationally, earning an 82% "Fresh" rating based on 11 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/before_the_rain/] . Film critic Roger Ebert called Before the Rain an "extraordinary film" [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950310/REVIEWS/503100301/1023] .

Awards

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It won several awards at the Venice Film Festival including the Golden Lion, and about thirty international awards in all.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0110882|title=Before the Rain

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title=Golden Lion winner
years=1994
tied with "Vive L'Amour"
before="Short Cuts" tied with
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after="Cyclo"