Before the Rain

I had Before the Rain sitting on my DVR for a long time, before I realized that it is in fact available on DVD courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

The structure of the movie is a little unusual. It's three stories in one, mostly told like an anthology film, although the stories do ultimately come together at the end, to tell a story about the war in Macedonia after it broke away from the former Yugoslavia. Now, the situation in Macedonia isn't as well known as what happened in other parts of the former Yugoslavia, especially the Croatian and Bosnian wars. But Macedonia has a large Albanian minority which causes one set of problems, as well as a neighbor in Greece with which is has frosty relations because the Greeks have a hissy fit over the name "Macedonia".

The background should make the first story clearer. In "Words", Macedonian Orthodox monk Kiril (Grégoire Colin), who has taken a vow of silence, is confronted in his monastery chamber by a young Albanian girl trying to escape the violence. And then sure enough the Macedonian reprisal squads come looking for the girl, claiming that she's wanted for some crime or another. Kiril decides to abandon the monastery and try to take the girl to safety in the big city, but that's going to be an arduous trek.

Cut to London, and the second story, "Faces". Anne (Katrin Cartlidge) is a photo editor who is successful in her professional life, but whose personal life is spiraling out of control. She's got a husband she no longer loves, and has been having an affair with photographer Aleksandr (Rade Šerbedžija) who may or may not really love her; he's got his own problems. And her husband is trying to patch up their relationship. Things continue to spiral out of control.

This story connects obviously to the final story, "Pictures". After the end of "Faces", Aleksandr hops on a plane to go back to his native Macedonia, where he'd been taking photos of the war. Specifically he wants to go back to his native village and finds out what's been going on. It's another difficult trek, and when Aleksandr gets back to his home village it's not all it's cracked up to be. Like that late 1950s Andy Hardy movie, sometimes you can't quite go home again.

Each of the three stories in Before the Rain could stand on its own, but the connection between them makes them more poignant. Before the Rain turns out to be a moving, extremely well-made movie that will stick with you for a long time. The cast does an excellent job, and the cinematography of Macedonia in the first and third stories is beautiful. (London is London.) It makes it all the more tragic to think what's happened to this poor country.