Article Title：'Before the Rain' in a Balkan context (Milcho Manchevski)
Abstract：
Even though director Manchevski rejected the idea that all Balkan nations are doomed to live through the violent nightmare of ethnic war, this was the dominant Western reading of his film. By uncritically continuing the line of traditional representation of the Balkans as a mystic stronghold of stubborn and belligerent people, Before the Rain continued an exiting Balkan trend of voluntary self-exoticism. The picture effectively contributed to the perception of Macedonia as a deceptively quiet but potentially explosive powder keg. Nonetheless, the film managed to show remarkably well to people in the Balkans what was wrong with them, and thus it had a therapeutic effect. I will look at Before the Rain and its prophecy in the light of current events in the Balkans.
Keywords: Balkan; Macedonian; nationalism; transnational cinema; fatalism; ethnic conflict
DOI: 10.1080/13642520050074786
Source：RETHINKING HISTORY
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