Times and Winds

Impressive feature from Reha Erdem, 2006
Uses a great variety of techniques; this does not fall into stylishness, or arbitrariness, because each technique is used to convey the particular required mode of the scene/ shot in question
Editing wise, this means some have faster takes, with cutaways, while exactly the opposite for others
Variety of compositions, long, medium, and close up all used a decent number of times
Rarely ever a fixed camera, often scanning across, especially in the extreme long shots from up high
There are a few recurring motifs; first, the non objective travelling shot. This progressively opens up the space of the life world (as a number of techniques do here), with literal location, and use of repetition
There is also a predeliction of perpendicular framings, especially with the two boys, which opens up slight air of absurdity
Indeed, this film is constantly nearly tipping over into that; use of abovementioned shots, stylised performances of underacting and very deadpan, even knowing delivery
Use of pausing, at times, on a vacated space; white walls
Also repeating motifs across shots
Interesting compostions, often unbalanced, at once pictorial, convey senses of a kind of imbalance. This film is very nearly eerie
Combining this with a few other features, such as the repeated shots of the children lying silent/ asleep/ petrified, and clear treatment of some very expressive images, this film could almost be accused of pictorialism
It isn’t quite that; deliberate beauty isn’t what’s being shown here, rather it is a reality expressed on its own terms, in an angular, sharp manner
And the deep focus lenses used, with a great variety of clear, sharp, and bright colours, quite high contrast, adds to this sense almost of a hyper-world, but presented at the same time with low key deliverance
The sound also deserves a mention; used to contrast with the image, either in overlapping of voice, or ‘unusual’ music, means we consider the image in a different manner (especially note the early sequence of the boy creeping about with the nourish music)
This film doesn’t present clear theses, but it would be fair to say it is about the younger generation’s oppression by the old, and developing ambiguities, differences, and consequences of varied relationships
Interesting narrative structure across separate narrators; no one clear identifying point, nearly every scene is from the camera’s, rather than a character’s, point of view, so to speak
This is a film perhaps easier to (strongly) admire more than love. The underplayed, stylised performances don’t open for identification, and the peripatetic approach to narrative structure and form don’t hotwire us to a director-artist with a blinding message
A film that one can see will have some in raptures; and quite reasonably so. We at times, for all its (undoubted qualities), found it a little bloodless; there is no room for contingency in this picture
For our part, we found it a strong, imaginative, for all its quietness a challenging piece of cinema, with every scene and shot having thought behind it. All qualities the modern cinema has to aspire to, and often does not reach