# Before the Rain (1994 film)

Before the Rain (Macedonian: Пред дождот, romanized: Pred doždot) is a 1994 Macedonian war film written and directed by Milcho Manchevski, starring Katrin Cartlidge, Rade Šerbedžija, Grégoire Colin and Labina Mitevska. Photographed by Manuel Teran, edited by Nicolas Guster and featuring an original score by Macedonian band Anastasia, the film received critical acclaim.

## Plot

A tragic tale of fated lovers set against the background of political turbulence in Macedonia and contemporary London, three love stories intertwine to create a portrait of modern Europe.
When a mysterious incident in the Macedonian mountains impacts people and events beyond its origin, it threatens to start a civil war and brings together a silent young monk, a London picture editor and a disillusioned war photographer. Told in three parts, and linked by characters and events, Before the Rain explores the uncompromising nature of war as it ravages the lives of the unsuspecting, and forces the innocent to take sides.

## Cast

* Katrin Cartlidge as Anne
* Rade Šerbedžija as Aleksandar
* Grégoire Colin as Kiril
* Labina Mitevska as Zamira
* Jay Villiers as Nick

## Production and release

The creation of the film served partly as a homecoming for Manchevski, who had lived in New York City since the 1980s. During the 1990s, Manchevski wrote a six-page outline for the film and managed to secure the support of the British Screen for the project. The British financial commitment was enhanced by French financing and support by the Macedonian ministry of culture. Shooting took place at a variety of locations across Macedonia in 1993. The film was initially not set in Macedonia. Manchevski had originally hoped to sidestep political specifics by setting the film in an anonymous country. Nicolas Gaster was the editor and Manuel Teran was the cinematographer. The band Anastasia composed the film's soundtrack. The film was released in 1994 and widely distributed in the Western world. It was Manchevski's first feature film and was an international breakthrough for the Croatian actor Rade Šerbedžija.
The film's non-linear three-act structure was inspired by Aleksander Petrović's film Three (1965). The film also contains allusions to Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky, and others. For example, the scene where Aleksandar whistles "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" while riding his bicycle is a conspicuous nod to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill.

## Themes

One of the main points of focus in the film is the ethnic clash that existed between Orthodox Macedonians and the Albanian Muslim minority in the early 1990s. It offers a view on how sociocultural norms and mechanisms can give rise to nationalism that grows into phobia of the foreign. Additionally, through the character of Aleksandar, the film offers a view of the "cultural shock" and foreignness he experiences upon reintegrating and returning to his home country after being away.

## Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 37 reviews. Deborah Young of Variety described the film as a "visually and narratively stunning tale." Film critic Roger Ebert described Before the Rain as one of the best films of the year and dubbed it "extraordinary". He further praised Manchevski's "clear, ironic, elliptic style" and called it "an art film about war, in which passions replace ideas". Criticism of the film largely focused on the gaze present in or allegedly constructed by the film. Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek has interpreted the film as offering "to the Western gaze what it likes to see in the Balkans – a mythical spectacle of eternal, primordial passions, of a vicious cycle of hate and love, in contrast to the decadent and anemic life in the West."

## Awards and nominations

At the 67th Academy Awards that took place in 1995, the film was nominated in the category for Best Foreign Language Film, marking the Republic of Macedonia's first nomination ever in the award show. However, it lost to the film Burnt by the Sun by Nikita Mikhalkov. The film also won the Golden Lion at the 51st Venice International Film Festival, alongside Vive L'Amour by Tsai Ming-liang. It was also nominated for the Grand Prix in 1996 by the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics. In addition to the aforementioned awards, the film also won 30 other awards.
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| Academy Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Before the Rain | Nominated |
| Argentine Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Film | Before the Rain | Won |
| David di Donatello Awards | Special Award to a Non-Italian Film | Before the Rain | Won |
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Foreign Film | Before the Rain | Won |
| Guldbagge Awards | Best Foreign Film | Before the Rain | Won |
| Nastro d'Argento | Best Foreign Film | Before the Rain | Nominated |
| Grand Prix 1996 | Grand Prix | Before the Rain | Nominated |

## Legacy

The New York Times writers Vincent Canby and Janet Maslin included Before the Rain in their book The New York Times Guide to the Best 1000 Movies Ever Made published in 1999. The film has been part of the curricula at numerous universities and in the Italian and Turkish high schools. An interdisciplinary academic conference in Florence was dedicated to the film, and it has been the subject of numerous essays and books. Katarzyna Marciniak, a scholar from Ohio University, argued in her essay that the film, in addition to being a cautionary tale for people from the former Yugoslavia, also served as a message to Westerners and American citizens "to recognize the problematic 'doubleness' embedded in the concept of national identity".

## Home video releases

* 2008 The Criterion Collection, Region 1 DVD (Spine #436), June 24, 2008 — Includes audio commentary by Milcho Manchevski and film scholar Annette Insdorf, an interview with Rade Serbedzija, a short 1993 documentary about the making of the film, and an essay by film scholar Ian Christie.
* It has also been released in Italy, Brazil, UK, France, Turkey, North Macedonia, Japan, Argentina, and Mexico.