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Times and Winds (Beş Vakit)

Times and Winds (Beş Vakit)

Movie · 2006 · 9 people

Reha Erdem's fourth feature, the Turkish drama Beş Vakit (Times and Winds), which he wrote and directed in 2006, opened in Turkey on September 29, 2006. The title alludes both to the daily prayer times and to the five parts of the day through which the film moves. It won Best Turkish Film of the Year at the Istanbul Film Festival; SİYAD, the film writers' association, honored Erdem's cinema with seven awards, and he also won a prize in Bucharest.

The story is set in a mountain village overlooking the sea, and was shot in Kozlu village in Çanakkale. There time is remembered only through the call to prayer, five times a day, and people live off their animals in step with nature. Three children are at the center: Ömer (Özkan Özen), Yakup (Ali Bey Kayalı) and Yıldız (Elit İşcan). What sets them apart from their peers is that they met hatred and violence very early. It starts with hatred of their own parents, and the more they flee adulthood, the closer it comes, while they grow with a sincere, childlike reproach towards life.

DirectorReha Erdem
Times and Winds (Beş Vakit) Times and Winds (Beş Vakit) Times and Winds (Beş Vakit)

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Cast

Bülent Emin Yarar Bülent Emin Yarar Actor · 65 years old Imam Cüneyt Türel Cüneyt Türel Actor · died at 69 Grandfather Elit İşcan Elit İşcan Actor · 32 years old Yıldız Köksal Engür Köksal Engür Actor · died at 77 Uncle Halil Selma Ergeç Selma Ergeç Actor · 48 years old The Teacher Sevinç Erbulak Sevinç Erbulak Actor · 51 years old Yakup's mother Taner Birsel Taner Birsel Actor · born 1959 Zekeriya Tilbe Saran Tilbe Saran Actor · 65 years old Ömer's Mother Yiğit Özşener Yiğit Özşener Actor · 54 years old Yusuf

Also in the cast: Ali Bey Kayali (Yakup)

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Reha Erdem's fourth feature is built less on plot than on a sense of time. The film uses the five parts of the day as its structural principle; the call to prayer works both as the village's clock and as the narrative's punctuation. Shooting in Kozlu village in Çanakkale turns the setting between mountain and sea into an inseparable part of the story. Erdem's real daring lies in showing the three children's hatred of their parents without softening it. That choice will not suit everyone; the rhythm is deliberately slow and some viewers may find the film distant. Best Turkish Film of the Year at the Istanbul Film Festival and seven SİYAD awards show how critics received this kind of cinema.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

I'll be honest: this film does not match my idea of pace at all. For 107 minutes it is the rhythm of the village, nature and the children's inner lives that move forward, more than events. There is tension, but it never explodes; it simmers underneath. The images are striking, no question. Still, for anyone wanting quick cutting and a clear conflict, it is a patience-testing, at times hard-going experience.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Times and Winds is set in a mountain village where time is measured by the call to prayer rather than the clock, and people live off their animals in step with nature. The frame lends itself to treating rural life without romanticising it: the hatred and violence the children meet so early make you think about the weight of authority inside the family. The film presents growing up not as a release but as a burden that draws closer the more you run from it. Local films that look this hard at the bond between parents and children are rare. For audiences used to village films, the world is familiar, but the gaze is far from the usual.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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