Times and Winds (Bes vakit) (2007)
87%RT Audience Score: 81%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Lilting and meditative, Reha Erdem’s story of three adolescents in rural Turkey captivates with intimate details and long takes of the endless countryside
Times and Winds” is a movie that takes its time, but it’s worth the wait. Critics have called it “painfully slow” and “too surreal,” but I call it “a dream-wander through the physical and emotional awakenings of three young teenagers.” The film is set in a remote Anatolian village, where time seems to stand still. But as the children grow up and face the harsh realities of life, they begin to understand the cyclical nature of violence and the eternal return of human progress. It’s a beautiful, poetic, and ultimately enriching film that will stay with you long after the credits roll. Just make sure you have some coffee on hand to stay awake during the slow parts!
Production Company(ies)
Miramax, Shooting Gallery
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Assos, Ayvacik, Çanakkale, Turkey
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2008
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
-
Runtime:NA
-
Language(s):Turkish
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Jul 15, 2008
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Times and Winds, drama, Turkish, Reha Erdem, directed by Reha Erdem, written by Reha Erdem, Ozkan Ozen, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan, Taner Birsel, Omer Atay, box office gross $6.2K, reviewed by Ben Kenigsberg, Joe Morgenstern, Maureen M Hart, Derek Malcolm, Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Anthony Quinn, Jeffrey Overstreet, MaryAnn Johanson, Anton Bitel, Rich Cline, Sam Wigley, Rob Daniel, 88% Tomatometer, 81% audience score, rural Turkey, adolescents, poverty, mountain village, father-son conflict, secret infatuation, housework, prayer sessions, intimate details, long takes, endless countryside
Worldwide gross: $387,396
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $533,623
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,723
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 58,192
US/Canada gross: $6,176
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $8,507
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,824
US/Canada opening weekend: $1,338
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $1,843
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,853
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Ali Bey Kayali – Yakup
Elit Iscan – Yildiz
Taner Birsel – Imam
Reha Erdem – Director, Screenwriter
Director(s)
Reha Erdem
Writer(s)
Reha Erdem
Producer(s)
Omer Atay
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (40) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (5)
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
It’s a work of singular beauty.
August 27, 2010
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
TOP CRITIC
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.
October 18, 2008 | Rating: 3/4
Maureen M. Hart
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
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.
August 29, 2008 | Rating: 3/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Light radiates intensely from Reha Erdem’s glowing enigma, a spiritual yet earthy meditation on the passing of time that proves quietly fruitful.
August 29, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
Metro Newspaper (UK)
TOP CRITIC
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.
August 29, 2008 | Rating: 3/5
Anthony Quinn
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
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.
June 15, 2012 | Rating: A-
Jeffrey Overstreet
Filmwell
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.
October 29, 2008
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
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.
September 3, 2008
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
Too surreal and symbolic to fully connect with mainstream cinema audiences, but lovers of challenging festival films will be captivated
August 29, 2008 | Rating: 3/5
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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.
August 29, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Sam Wigley
Total Film
Difficult, frustrating, but engrossing and ultimately enriching, make time to see it.
August 29, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Rob Daniel
Sky Cinema…
Plot
In a poor, rural mountain village in northern Turkey, three adolescents lead difficult lives and navigate the challenges of youth while dealing with their tough existence and the daily routine of prayer sessions.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about Times and Winds.
Reha-Erdem.jpg
