Before the Rain

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Before the Rain ★★★ Po Dezju; Pred dozhdot 1994

War-torn Macedonia is the backdrop for Manchevski's first film (and first made in the newly declared republic of Macedonia). Powerful circular narrative joins three stories about the freedom of love and the pervasiveness of violence. “Words” finds young Macedonian monk Kiril (Colin) distracted from his spiritual duties by young Albanian Muslim Zamira (Mitevska), who takes refuge in his monastery. In “Faces,” pregnant picture editor Anne (Cartlidge) is torn between her estranged husband and her lover, Aleksander (Serbedzija), a Londonbased war photographer who left his native Macedonia years before. “Pictures” finds Aleksandar returning to his old village—now torn by ethnic strife. In Macedonian, Albanian, and English, with subtitles. 120m/C VHS . GB FR MA Rade Serbedzija, Katrin Cartlidge, Gregoire Colin, Labina Mitevska, Phyllida Law; D: Milcho Manchevski; W: Milcho Manchevski; C: Manuel Teran; M: Anastasia. Ind. Spirit '96: Foreign Film; Venice Film Fest. '94: Golden Lion.

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