BEFORE THE RAIN (Ïðåä äîæäîò)
Movie from: 1994
Duration: 119 minutes
Director: Milcho Manchevski
Screenplay: Milcho Manchevski
Leading Roles: Katrin Cartlidge, Gregoar Collin, Josif Josifovski, Labina Mitevska, Kiril Ristevski, Rade Sherbedzija
Content: The movie "Before the rain" contains three entities, causally and consequentially connected to one another, in the
film narration. They are entitled as "Words", "Faces" and "Pictures".The action happens in an ancient male monastery somewhere in Macedonia.
The young monk, Kiril, sworn to silence, finds Zamira, a young Albanian girl who is merely a child, in his attic cell. He does not understand
Albanian, but has no doubt that she seeks shelter from some evil. He doesn’t tell of her presence, even when armed peasants search for her in
order to judge her for the murder of one of their fellow villagers. He is scared when they search the monastery looking for her and really
happy when they fail to find her. The older monks notice his silent fear. Late in the night they enter Kiril's cell and find the girl. The
punishment for the monk is expulsion from the monastery. Under the veil of the night, passing the drunken village guards, Kiril and Zamira
leave the refuge of the monastery walls. A daytime, in a pass through a rocky mountainous region: Kiril, overwhelmed with worry, but also
with love for the girl, promises her safety somewhere far from the village and the mountain. The kiss on her face and hands around his body
looking for rescue is the only physical contact between them. But immediately next to them are her relatives and fellow villagers. Her
grandfather, with the strictness of the village chief brings her back to reality. She tries to explain that Kiril has helped her, that he
saved her and that he loves her. The grandfather with his unyielding authority sends Kiril away. He hesitatingly starts going. Zamira's howl
after him and makes him turn back. She runs towards Kiril. Her brother shoots at her. The prejudices leave no space for a different end.
Kiril is on her side. She dies looking at him. The second part of the movie "Before the Rain" takes place in a completely different world: in
the dynamic, modern, urban London, in a world-famous photo agency, where the laureate of the Pulitzer' prize, the Macedonian Aleksandar
Kirkov, works, and who has left his fatherland a long time ago.
Resume: "Before the Rain" by the young writer and director Milcho Manchevski is indisputably one of the most meritous productions
by a Macedonian author. If we observe this production not merely as an aesthetic but also as a communicational phenomenon we find that it is
inspiring on several plains. Regardless of it being a debut, "Before the Rain" appears to have come to remind us just in time of the creative
potentials present in Macedonian cinematography. The series of international awards, which it received among which there is the Golden Lion of
the 1994 Venice Film Festival, certainly speak in favor of this.
Before this film Manchevski, who graduated in direction in the USA, had only made a number of short films. After a series of unsuccessful
attempts to realize his first full-length project "Mussaka" he produced "Before the Rain" as a co-production of English and French producers
and Vardar Film. This film undoubtedly represents a prestigious achievement that the cinematography of any country should be proud of. Its
thematic and formal opulence promotes its author as authentic. Thus the technique employed in the film appears to be marked by two
characteristics of Manchevski as a director – namely, his originality in the narrative construction of the plot and an already mature
sensibility regarding the place in which it unfolds.
As far as its genre is concerned, there are a number of situations in "Before the Rain" all of which influence the predominant dramatic tone
of the film. Thus, we may initially feel the elements of a present-day socio-political atmosphere in it and then it gradually becomes a
psychological study of the more or less frustrated characters in our everyday life and all of this is domineered by a humanistic perspective
which integrates issues which refer to some religious truths, mythological motifs and universal anthropological symbols.
Formally, the film is structured as a visual triptych which, however, does not only exist on the formal level of the structure of the narrative
but also leads us to think that the author aspires to create a fabular whole in which the presence of the factotum will be embodied not so much
through the abstract elements of the kinesthetic kind as through the actions of the protagonists. Thus the cinematic narrative is divided into
three segments entitled "Words", "Faces" and "Pictures". In all of these the idea and the contents deal with the phenomenon of human intolerance
and ethnic dissension as highly undesired syndromes of an, above all, anthropological tragedy.
In this sense, Manchevski manages to find the adequate visual forms to cinematographically express this entire intricate thematic complex. In
this he is most helped by the experienced and talented cameraman Manuel Teran, the effectively completed scenography of Sharon Lomofski and
David Moons as well as the costumes by Carolyn Harris and Sue Yeland. Here we also have the very successfully selected cast led by Rade
Sherbedzija who plays the principal character of the photoreporter Aleksandar, the English actors Katrin Cartlidge and Jay Willars as well as
the French actor Gregoire Colin. The Macedonian actors Meto Jovanovski, Labina Mitevska, Silvija Stojanovska, Josif Josifovski, Kiril Ristovski,
Ljupcho Bresliski, Vladimir Endrovski, Igor Madzirov, Petar Mirchevski and the actor from Kosovo – Abdurahman Shalja perform very successfully
as part of this international cast.
The beautiful music, which was written for the purposes of this film and performed by the members of "Anastasia" also, deserves to be highlighted.
Awards:
1994 IFF, Venice, Golden Lion for Best Film
1994 IFF, Venice, FIPRESCI, International Critics Prize
1994 IFF, Venice, The UNICEF Prize
1994 IFF, Venice, Premio Cinemavenire, Young Audience Prize
1994 IFF, Venice, First Prize of the Audience
1994 IFF, Venice, Rolling Venice Award, from the City of Venice
1994 IFF, Venice, Leoncino d'oro, awarded by the Italian students
1994 IFF, Venice, Prize from the International Catholic Organization for the Cinema
1994 IFF, Venice, Award from the syndicate "Francesko Pasinati" for best actor given to Rade Sherbedzija
1994 IFF, Venice, Kodak Award for Best First feature
1994 IFF, Toronto, Second Prize according the audience vote
1994 IFF, Sao Paolo, Audience Award for Best Film
1994 IFF, Puerto Rico, Jury Award for Best Film
1994 IFF, Puerto Rico, Audience Award for Best Film
1994 IFF, Puerto Rico, Best Director
1994 IFF, Puerto Rico, Best Debut Film
1994 IFF, Stockholm, Best Debut Film
1995 IFF, Mons, Belgium, Charlot d'Ore
1995 IFF, St.Petersburg, Grand Prix
1995 IFF, Burgos, Spain, Winner of the Single Festival Prize
1995 IFF, Gorizia, Italy, Best Screenplay
1995 Film Forum, Bratislava, Slovakia, Best Film
1995 Panteleria, Italy, UNESCO Prize
1995 IFF, Warsaw, Poland, Audience Award
1995 Austria, Catholic Film Commission Prize
1995 David Di Donatello Special Award to a non-Italian film
1995 Swedish Film Institute, Golden Bug for Best Foreign Film
1995 Oscar nomination, Best Foreign Language Film
1995 11th October Award for Major Achievement
1996 Independent Spirit Award, Best Foreign-Language Film
Sources: Macedonian Cinema Information Center and Cinemateque of Macedonia.
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