It's unusual for me to finish with a Criterion disc with anything less than a feeling of either inspired awe or pure glowing bliss, yet as the credits rolled for Before The Rain, I felt almost nothing towards the film. Not that the "blame" for that (if you will) should be placed wholly on the shoulders of the DVD company, but it is a film that seems a strangely slick choice for them to put their time and energy into.

It's a shame too as the material that the film focuses on is rich and fraught with stories that the director could have brought to light. The story revolves around the early days of the conflict between Macedonia and Albania, a war that swirled around religious differences and is echoed in a number of ugly civil wars and international struggles still going on today.

The film wends three storylines through its two-hour running time, starting with a harrowing story of an Orthodox monk who hides a young Muslim girl in his cell. The monk's vow of silence and chastity are put to the test during this time, not only by the girl but by the group of Macedonian thugs who are out to make her pay for her involvement in the death of one of their own. The section of the film works best thanks to the heartbreaking acting work of Gregoire Colin as the young monk. Using only his eyes and his slightly askew smile, he speaks volumes without saying one word.

The other two tales, both of which involve a Macedonian-born photographer who leaves behind his pregnant girlfriend in England and returns home, felt too heavy handed, pushing the metaphors and dark underpinnings of the confrontations between the two factions a little hard in the viewer's face.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the film is its overly sentimental and Westernized tone. Director Milcho Manchevski quite obviously got his film training in American and English media (most specifically music videos) and this feature shows every inch of those tropes – slick lighting and staging of each scene, chest-heaving sentimentality and furious editing. Even when it works best, the story is undercut by odd touches like the CG full moon that hangs over the Macedonian village throughout and the mannered dialog.