Time of Love 1991

Starring Menderes Samancılar, Şiva Gerede, Abdurrahman Palay, Celal Hüsrevşahi, and Akın Tunç, the film weaves three intertwined narratives around Gozal, a woman whose life is caught in a cycle of love, betrayal, and tragedy.

First Narrative

Gozal, whose husband is a taxi driver, begins an affair with a young blond shoeshine boy. One day, an old man who is hard of hearing records birds’ songs and, from what he overhears, learns of their relationship. He then tells Gozal’s black-haired husband everything he has found out. The revelation shatters the household: the black-haired husband shoots the blond-haired lover and injures Gozal, before surrendering to the authorities. He is condemned to death and, in this story’s grim tradition, is thrown into the sea. Gozal’s own life collapses as she is driven to take her own life at her regular meeting place. The narrative closes on a note of irreversible consequence, with love and loyalty torn apart by a harsh legal and social system.

Second Narrative

In this thread, the blond-haired man and Gozal are husband and wife, while Gozal now loves the black-haired man. The blond-haired is the taxi driver, and the black-haired is a hawker. The same old man again uncovers the affair and informs the blond-haired husband. He intends to kill the black-haired but ends up being killed himself in the ensuing confrontation. The black-haired is sentenced to death and, at his request, is hanged on the tree beneath which he first saw Gozal. Gozal dies in a hospital, her life unraveling once more as the cycle of jealousy and violence continues to claim its victims.

Third Narrative

As in the first thread, the black-haired and Gozal are husband and wife, and Gozal again takes a lover—the blond-haired. The old man once more informs Gozal’s husband about the affair, igniting a fresh round of rivalry. The two rivals clash, but the black-haired refuses to kill the blond-haired when the moment arises, choosing restraint over vengeance and granting his rival the opportunity to speak. He even attends and oversees the wedding party of Gozal and the blond-haired, signaling a strange, bittersweet tolerance within the cycle of feuds. During the wedding, a resigned court judge attends, a reminder of the broader social forces at play. The black-haired then offers his taxi as a wedding present to the newlyweds, lifting them toward a new chapter. The blond-haired, determined to win back Gozal for the black-haired, chases after him, only to encounter the old man once more—the latter confessing that he has loved Gozal for many years. This final act underlines the film’s core meditation on desire, loyalty, and the inescapable repeats of fate.