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A plotless study in rural Turkish child psychology could be either a tedious, unmitigated cinematic disaster or high art. If you're conditioned to heavy, atmospheric fare, Reha Ardem's carefully paced look at the social and familial minutae of an isolated Turkish mountain village falls squarely into the latter category; if you're not conditioned to it, I'm guessing you've never been to Anthology Film Archives. This is definitely one for the arthouse snobs, but it's also a surprisingly sensitive look at the inner lives of bored, rural Turkish youth: we have the potentially patricidal Ömer, who goes lackadaisical afternoons with fellow second-graders Yildiz and Yusuf, who don't do anything more exciting than trap scorpions, argue with their parents, and climb a couple of rocks. Not an awful lot of action for a two-hour film, but the interaction among the children, as well as the stunning mountain scenery and almost unerring sense of place (the village is arguably the film's most vividly developed character) give Times and Winds a depth that belies its thin — even nonexistent — plot. The children are as complex as the social and physical landscape they're set against, and the film slowly amounts to a rich, compelling whole.
Opens January 11 at Anthology Film Archives
Opens January 11 at Anthology Film Archives
