Before the Rain (Macedonia)

REVIEW
Three interwoven stories about choices, fate and the inevitability of violence form a circle that "is not round" in this Oscar nominee for Best Foreign-Language Film. The stories focus on a young monk's relationship with an Albanian refugee; an Englishwoman's decision whether to leave her husband for a Macedonian photographer; and that photographer's return to his home village after 16 years. All of the stories converge, more or less, at the film's end, and drive home the belabored lesson that all violence -- ethnic or otherwise -- is futile though inescapable. The final story, the best of the three, works on a deeper level because in it we watch the approaching storm of conflict in Macedonia through the eyes of an estranged native. Featuring gorgeous camerawork, Before the Rain is an interesting if obvious tale. (Macedonian with English subtitles)