May 12, 2008
After only being available on bootlegged or used but extremely rare DVDs, the originals of which were released only in Macedonia and Turkey (given away for free in limited number), Milcho Manchevski?s poetic and soulful examination of the futility of war and circularity of violen...( read more)ce is set to be released on DVD proper through Criterion this June. Given that the film won the Oscar for best foreign film and earned numerous accolades from the major critics (Siskel and Ebert raved about the film on their show), one would have expected to see it on DVD a long time ago, but alas, it?s coming now and getting the proper treatment.
The film is set in Macedonia in the early 90s, as tensions between the ?native? Macedonians and Muslim Albanians flare. The story is broken into 3 parts ? words, faces, and pictures. Words follows a young monk, on a vow of silence for the last 2 years. He finds to his shock one evening in his quarters a young boy hiding in his bed. He runs to tell one of the monastery heads, but decides against telling after seeing the fear in the boy?s eyes. The next day, armed men show up looking for an Albanian girl who allegedly killed a sheep herder. No one knows of the girl, but the armed men refuse to leave and keep watch in case she turns up. That night, the young Monk, Kiril, wakes to see the boy again, but this time in the light of the moon, and realizes that it is not a boy, but a girl with her hair chopped off. She is Zamira. He allows her to hide with him, only to be discovered later in the night by the other priests. The two are forced out under the cover of darkness, wished well on their way. The two seem to be heading for love, but that love will be swiftly and brutally taken away from them before it is allowed to materialize.
Part 2, faces, takes us into the modern hubbub of London, where a woman at a photo agency, Anne, is embroiled in pregnancy and an affair with her Macedonian Co-worker, Aleksander (Rade Serbedzija). He has just returned from an expedition which has apparently traumatized him. His camera has killed a man he says. He asks her to come back to Macedonia with him, where he remembers life as peaceful and safe, despite her warnings and knowledge of the Balkan conflicts. Being pregnant, she cannot go, she must meet with her husband. Aleksander leaves alone to return to his homeland. While the war seems far away from bustling London, violence and hatred are never as far as they seem. Over dinner, Anne first tells her husband she is pregnant, it?s his, and she wants a divorce. Meanwhile, a waiter and a patron, both speaking Macedonian, bicker. The tension in the scene is wrought, as Anne struggles to get the right words out and express her feelings and the two men head toward a devastating act of violence for Anne and her Husband.
Part 3, pictures, returns us to Macedonia, and to Aleksander. He arrives home and finds his old home a disaster, and finds that his Albanian neighbours are fearful of him. Childhood friends are now bitter enemies, hatred runs hot between Macedonians and Albanians. Some in his family seem to be somewhat sympathetic, others militant, such as his cousin, Mitre, one of the armed men at the church in the beginning of the film. Aleksander inquires about Hana, a woman he used to love, and apparently still does. She is Albanian, widowed, and off limits. He goes to visit her, and finds that he must pass a roadblock, where he is suspiciously questioned by armed villagers. He is allowed in only after Hana?s father confirms his identity. We discover that the man is Zamira?s grandfather, and she is Hana?s daughter. Aleksander will be asked later by Hana to help protect Zamira.
I will not reveal here the interconnectedness of the film, as it is impossible to do so without revealing major spoilers. We come to realize however that the film is not linear in nature, but circular, a style employed in a much different film at the same time, Pulp Fiction. We also come to realize that there a number of subtle incongruence?s in the plot. People who should be dead are alive - timing and events seem to be off. Manchevski was purposeful in his editing, and the inconsistencies are not simply goofs. Rather they fit the theme of the film, spoken or seen numerous times throughout the film ? ?The circle is not round. Time never dies.? The circularity of violence is manifested through the circularity of the plot: things don?t always look the same but the result always is: destruction of life. Before the Rain is a film about our humanity and how it is destroyed by hate; how we are not only willing to destroy those we hate because we hate them, but that we will destroy those we love when they stand in the way of our hatreds. The film is a scathing indictment of the policies of war and hate, rendered through the heart and soul of art. I implore anyone reading this to seek see the film, which thankfully will be far more available come this June.
Share This Review
