"Before the Rain"

A captivating movie full of symbolism and chronological trickery, Before the Rain will keep you guessing.

Before the Rain was filmed in the amazing but rarely seen landscapes of Macedonia. With its vast breathtaking beauty, there is an underbelly that will not allow you to believe happened in gods country.

Before the Rain is broken down into three segments (Words, Faces, and Pictures) each subtitle gives the viewer insight to foreshadow what terceriary points of symbolism will be made.

Words is the title of Part one, an oxymoron considering it is used to describe a scene where a Monk has taken a vow of silence and cannot communicate by voice. This vow of silence seems to aid in his exile after it is found that he was harboring a female Albanian fugitive. Zamira, a young teen scorned and running from her own family tries to find refuge with Kiril, the silent Monk. Once this is found, both are banished to run the mountains and forge for themselves. This is when the movies takes a harsh turn.

Faces, is when we meet Anne. Shot in a such a way, the viewer may question if both parts are taking place in the same time period. Set in the city, Anne is a chic career woman, who is having an ongoing affair with a photographer, Alex. Anne struggles internally with the aspect of having a new life with Alex or returning to what she knows or familiar faces.

Pictures allows us to see Alex making his way through a war torn town, coming to a house reduced to rubble. Once a place he called home sixteen years earlier, he finds nothing familiar. Alex is trying to cope with a soul sold for pictures, and a lover who died in a taxi.

"Time does not wait and the circle is not round" is a phrase that will resonate through the heart of the viewer. The film literally and figuratively comes full circle. The viewer then realizes that the film began "halfway near the end" so to speak. Powerful and witty, Before the Rain will be a compelling look into a society that screams for reform, but was sentenced to a vow silenced by the world.

Below is a link to another review of Before the Rain, written by Peter Rainer, and Published in the Los Angeles Times in 1995.


http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie960406-269,0,1357682.story