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Before the Rain

(a Tale in Three Parts)
Jan 03, 2015Nursebob rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A young monk undergoes a crisis of faith when a Moslem girl, wanted for murder, seeks refuge in his cell. A married woman must make a painful decision whether to continue her comfortable existence in London or follow Aleksander, her Macedonian lover, back to his homeland. Her lover, meanwhile, seeking a return to a simpler past finds the village he grew up in transformed by ethnic hatred into something terrible. These are the stories that make up Manchevski’s circular triptych on the many casualties of war in which blood begets blood, brother turns against brother and the innocent are often caught in the crosshairs. As a successful photojournalist Aleksander traveled the globe documenting the horrors man inflicts upon his fellow man. But when the violence comes to his doorstep he realizes that there is no such thing as a neutral observer and his silence equals tacit consent. Manchevski presents us with a parched desert landscape where goodness is often overwhelmed by vindictiveness and a simple gesture of compassion can lead to tragedy. When the rain finally does come however, it is not the healing shower we expect but rather a torrent of bitter tears. Before the Rain is visually gorgeous employing a series of highly stylized painterly tableaux that seem almost impressionistic. Some scenes are perhaps a bit too composed, as if the film were staggering under the weight of its own portents, and the use of narrative symmetry, wherein certain lines and situations are repeated, seems forced at times. Still a beautiful and heartfelt work that deserves to be seen...and heard; the music is wonderful.