film in which hatred of others is greater than love of one's own. Imagine a culture where a man would rather kill his daughter than allow her to love a man from another culture, and one will have an idea of the depth of bitterness in this film, the insane lengths to which men can be driven by belief and prejudice" ( Ebert 3).Mise-en-scene is a French term roughly translated as " what is put into the Scene." Before the Rain, uses examples of mise-en-scene through out the movie. Each of the three chapters is opened with a plane flying across a blue sky. The purpose to incorporate the plane in each part is used by Manchevski to show a sense of escape. In the third chapter, the plane Aleksander is on lands in Macedonia. This symbolizes Aleksander's desire to be "home," while the other citizens of Albania and Macedonia would rather escape by flying away. The deliberate use of the sky in each chapter of the movie is used by Manchevski to show " the heavy expectation when the people are silent, waiting for a tragedy of cleansing"(Manchevski 1). Kirkil, Anne and Aleksander all are filmed vomiting, implying that the realization of violence amongst people is nauseating to them. Often children are shown with guns, and in one scene a gun is taken from a child and given to a retard, giving the suggestion of innocence and learned behavior. One is not born with hatred and the ability to be violent, but rather these are learned from others, and often taught at home. The film beautifully mixes old Europe with new Europe images and cultures to show how the past clings to the present. An ancient monastery in one section, a busy London intersection in another and nowhere is it safe. (Armaly1-2)"The shot is the single image you see on the screen before the film cuts to a different image"(Corrigan55). There are several good examples of this in the movie. Professor Platt suggests that not a single shot is wasted in the movie. The scene of the...
