Times and Winds (Bes vakit) (2006)

87% of critics liked it
(39 reviews)
79% of users liked it
(801 ratings)

Director Reha Erdem paints an affecting portrait of life in a remote village of Turkey with this tale of three preteen friends whose childhood dreams are gradually crushed by the apparent wickedness of their adult guardians. Ömer's (Özkan Özen) father is the local imam and a highly respected member… More Director Reha Erdem paints an affecting portrait of life in a remote village of Turkey with this tale of three preteen friends whose childhood dreams are gradually crushed by the apparent wickedness of their adult guardians. Ömer's (Özkan Özen) father is the local imam and a highly respected member of the community, but that doesn't change the fact that he treats Ömer with such distain that the youngster can frequently be found praying for his father's death. Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali) is a young boy who houses secret affections for the teacher of the local one-room schoolhouse. His childhood obsession slowly gives way to repulsion, however, when he sees his father admiring the woman's undeniable beauty as well. Lastly, Yildiz's (Elit Iscan) mother is a cruel woman who drives her daughter like a slave. When Yildiz accidentally catches her parents making love, the disturbing sight leaves a lasting impression on the young girl's fragile psyche. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By: Reha Erdem
Written By: Reha Erdem
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Nov 10, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Jul 15, 2008
Studio: Kino International

Critic Reviews

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
It's a work of singular beauty.
Maureen M. Hart, Chicago Tribune
Erdem's script and his young cast do a fine job of recalling the years between carefree childhood (embodied by Omer's brother, the precocious and adorable Ali) and adult power and duties.
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Though modestly plotted and deliberately paced, Times and Winds is a hypnotic look at life in a remote village on Turkey's northwest coast.
Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times
A blunt look at how anger binds generations.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
This 2006 feature works better in terms of mood than storytelling.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
As might be expected, the film looks beautiful, its elegant compositions well capturing the natural beauty of the landscape.
Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer
As Arvo Pärt's orchestration runs ponderously through the film, so the consequences of cyclical violence weigh heavily on Erdem's mind. But his vision is not without hope.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
An earthy, cruelly honest dream-wander through the physical and emotional awakenings of three young teenagers whose lives are shaped and constrained by the rural rhythms of their remote mountain village.
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film
in a film both as banal, and as miraculous, as the endlessly repeating metamorphoses that it portrays, time does not so much heal old wounds as reopen them in new bodies - and the result is a vision that sets human progress against eternal return.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Too surreal and symbolic to fully connect with mainstream cinema audiences, but lovers of challenging festival films will be captivated
Derek Malcolm, This is London
Though painfully slow to ignite and poetically portentous on occasions, Reha Erdem's film about three children growing up in a remote Anatolian village, isolated by high mountains, has an impressive edge to it.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
The film is concerned with observing the passage of time, the change in the light, the immemorial contours of the landscape, and, in one shot, a very touching pieta of a boy and his new baby sibling. Compelling stuff if you can stay with it.
Sam Wigley, Total Film
We've seen this kind of picturesque rural drama before, but director Reha Erdem still hews a rich poetry from the material. The story's elegantly structured around the five daily calls-to-prayer given from a parapet with stunning views.
Rob Daniel, Sky Movies
Difficult, frustrating, but engrossing and ultimately enriching, make time to see it.
Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph
But it's Erdem's unsentimental compassion towards his characters, his fidelity to the rhythms of their lives and the arcs of their imaginations, that gives this film its wondrous power and depth.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
Times and Winds is a remarkable piece of work, conceived at the highest pitch of intelligence: it is a cinematic poem, replete with fear and rapture, and one of the best films of the year.
Kevin Maher, Times [UK]
It is, at a guess, about life's relentless march, about death, rebirth, and the hollow limits of religion in the face of overwhelming nature. You have to see it to get it, but when you've got it you've got it for good.
Tom Dawson, Film4
A lyrical yet unsentimental vision of childhood, directed with striking assurance by Erdem.
Wally Hammond, Time Out
Buried in leaves or hugging the rocks, they could be in ecstatic communion or fusing with the natural world. More likely, Erdem's marvellous film sees them as bridging the divide between heaven and earth.
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine
A toughly touching insight into the pain of growing up.