Takva (2006) User Reviews

Can there be true righteousness in the absence of temptation...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 2 May 2010]

... seems to be the question at the heart of this Turkish film about a simple man living a simple life until his world is turned upside down when he is suddenly exposed to the modern world in the service of his religion. Muharrem is at the center of this character study. He is a very nondescript looking man of about 40 who has been in the service of sack dealer Ali Bey and his family since childhood. He is called an apprentice, but he acts basically as a stock boy and runner of errands. He has been stuck at this point since he was a child with no hope of being more than he is, and he seems fine with that. He lives a simple life in simple quarters and rigidly adheres to his religious sect's rules without question.

What changes everything is when the leader of his religious sect selects Muhareem to be the organizer of finances for the group. With absolutely no training in this area and no prior exposure to the modern world and culture, he is thrust into a position of authority wandering about town collecting the sect's rents. When he is handed a cell phone to call Rauf - his superior and adviser - in case he has questions during his rounds, he looks as though he has been handed a piece of biomedical equipment that he must somehow assemble.

Muhareem finds himself morally challenged and psychologically troubled when he is exposed for the first time to power, money, and sex. The power comes in the form of regard that he's never had before from people who have previously treated him as though he was invisible. His new sexual temptations come in the form of things as simple as having to walk past a long line of female mannequins dressed in lingerie on his way to collect some rent moneys. Muhareem has never seen such sights before, and soon he is having disturbing dreams. Also, he begins to see an equally troubling change in his own personality that seems to be required for him to do his new job correctly, but goes against the grain of all he has ever believed to be righteous.

This film is set in Turkey and the sect in question is the Sufi branch of Islam, but it could easily be set anywhere in the world and involve any religion - the themes are universal. Highly recommended.

not a documentary and not a critique but a critical insight

[erdeba · 8/10 · 1 May 2007]

I think it goes much to far to call this excellent film a documentary about the life of a Muslim sect or a critique of political Islam or even the role of the religious orders in Turkish economic life. Rather I would like to claim that it gives just an impression of the life Turkish religious orders, society and the mind of a devout religious man who previously led a uncritical life without real challenges and without deep thoughts about practical life and religion. Therefor he's unprepared for both of it.

I would guess that one could find his "state of mind" also with a range of uncritical believers of many religions who, although ardently believe stay shallow in their intellectual penetration of their believe and worldly life. They stay rather caught in conservative dogmas, which where made to control man and are far away from a healthy human experience.

Not everything shown in Film should be taken at face value. The depiction of the ritual life gives an impression of the ecstatic quality of such gatherings but is exaggerated in their frenetic appearance. There may have been reasons for this depiction but one should rather try not to confuse it with the an authentic account; this account one should rather get in contact with real orders.

The protagonist has high values which he fails to satisfy. This puts him in a moral dilemma which is very instructively set in contrast on one hand to worldly every day people and merchants with their cheating and accommodation with an imperfect world. On the other there is a religious order, which although is directed towards spirituality is of course also involved in worldly enterprises and has of course it financial interests. Nothing gets euphemised but the problems of both - profane and spiritual - get expounded in a way that a psychological profile of shallow but devote believer meets social criticism (not only hitting the Turkish Islamic milieu of its setting but also similar ones in other regions and religions).

cinema with guts, heart & soul

[deniskev · 8/10 · 22 June 2007]

Saw Takva last night at The Sydney Film Festival 2007, utterly compelling, driven by Erkan Can's fine performance as Muharrem, a devout Muslim in contemporary Istanbul. Previous posts outline more.

I was fascinated by the way Takva engages with contemporary Turkey, a notionally democratic and secular society since the 1920s. Yes, Muharrem has an existential crisis, also familiar to audiences of Shrek 3 in another way ... dare I mention it, by profane comparison.

I suspect Takva has a satirical streak, once you imagine the dervishs's lodge could be the current government of Turkey.

Am I right? Responses from Turkish members most welcome.

The gripping story of a devout man who looses his mind over the pragmatic power games of an Islamic brotherhood he adheres to.

[oliver_kontny · 9/10 · 22 September 2006]

Takva - A Man's Fear of God is one of those films that playfully enact conflicts of fundamental importance for the world we live in. Takva starts off with humble Muharrem, an introverted single man living in Istanbul, being drawn into the inner circle of a Muslim brotherhood he has adhered to ever since his childhood days. When the erudite and strikingly pragmatic leader, Sheikh Cemal, appoints him as his financial organizer, Muharrem gets endowed with all the amenities and trappings of a modern world businessman. He has to collect rent and administer the order's finances. His naive will to live a life according to what he thinks is the will of God clashes not only with his unfulfilled sexual desires, but also with the mechanisms of power within the order. The brothers' lifestyle may be conservative, but they run an organization that is fully intertwined with the present day social, political and economic life of Turkey.

For Muharrem, who hardly understands any of this business, this means that every step he intends to make for the greater glory of God draws him ever deeper into the quagmire of corruption, lies and hypocrisy. The authority he is endowed with now makes him haughty and difficult to deal with, while his accumulated frustration increasingly throws him into literal fits. Everything escalates when he comes face to face with the woman he desires...

The plot for this great film is based on an old folk tale from Turkey about a man who refuses to marry the daughter of his spiritual master although he clearly loves her. In Onder Cakar and Omer Kiziltan's adaptation, the narrative serves to expose the inner mechanisms of puritan Muslim orders and throw light on the mental set-up of its loyal members. The film is pure fun to watch due to countless instances of great irony, a remarkable love for detail and breathtaking scenes of ecstatic rituals. While the filmmakers were very careful not to ridicule the milieu they're depicting, their critical approach accounts for a film that substantially helps understand the way political Islam "works".

Some knowledge about Sufi Islam needed for this movie

[ogsezer · 10/10 · 28 September 2007]

I would like to mention a different side of the movie that sheds light on Sufi or Mevlevi orders in Turkish and Islamic history.

Why Muharrem is selected for this task to perform financial affairs of the order? The answer is related with the stages of knowledge or purity that one has to qualify to become a "Perfect Human Being" or "insan-i kamil" in Turkish. This concept or ideology is rooted with Islamic tradition. Many Sufi or Mevlevi order has this process for their dervishes which may take a lifetime to achieve this goal or even never be able to reach that level of "perfection".

Different than being nun or monk which requires leaving mainstream society and living in the monastery with prayers, last step of this difficult and lengthy process of purifying one's soul from earthly desires, is to be able to return to the real world after so many years lived in contemplation and yet not being disturbed with its appeal to commit sin. I believe in the last few minutes head of the order explains this a little bit. And apparently Muharrem failed to accomplish last stage before achieving "perfection".

Taqwa sheds a light on political Islam with the consciousness struggle of a simple man.

[elsinefilo · 19 January 2008]

"Taqwa" is one of those Islamic jargon which can only be loosely translated into English. It is the Islamic concept of "God-consciousness".Someone having "taqwa" has the constant awareness of God's omnipresence in his life and he is supposed to be in total submission to God.The movie tells the story of Muharrem,a simple minded,unobtrusive middle-aged man who lives alone.While he runs the errands in the place he works, he spends most of his time in the local dargah(a Sufi shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure)by engaging himself with total abstinence and dhikr(a form of devotion,in which the worshiper is absorbed in the rhythmic repetition of the name of God or his attributes)Muharrem's uneventful life starts to take a bit different course when he is given to duty(by the leader dervish of the religious brotherhood)to take care of the financial matters like collecting the monthly rents for the religious order. Muharrem is obliged in the very matter he refrains from. He finds himself obliged to engage in worldly matters.The more he gets himself into this the more he vacillates because he notices that the religious order rented a shop to the men who take alcohol and in another example he oscillates to take the rent from a family who has barely any money. The more he gets himself in money matters the more dreams he has about sex alcohol and money. He wet-dreams of sleeping with the same woman every time.A day when he really feels suffocated he takes to the streets and he sees the same woman in a jewelery store. When he follows her, he notices that she is the very daughter of the dargah leader. At the end of the movie we see him pretty numb in his bed. Taqwa sheds a light on the inner-workings of political Islam. Religious brotherhoods surely provide unity among Muslims but most of these brotherhoods seek after only their interests. This is more like a business industry. They own shops, flats, private schools, courses. They do shopping at the places they own, they buy their own products, they commercialize their own system. The rest is actually the romance. Not so many of them really seek after total obedience to God or something. They just believe they do. That does not make them so harmful or something but this does not make them so different from their non-religious counterparts (either)like atheistic, uber-leftist-mason counterparts.

Good ethical-drama-cum-quasi-documentary

[ulnoyman · 6/10 · 15 April 2007]

Takva attempts to achieve two things; It is a philosophical drama, and also a quasi-documentary. Putting the main character in a low-profile religious order, and in a ethical conundrum, the movie makers hit two birds with one reel.

Religious orders and their role in the growing politicization of Islam in Turkey is a sensitive subject. The movie refrains from saying much politically, or the characters do not have lines that can be interpreted in such a manner. However, 'Takva the documentary' speaks volumes.

Takva has good actors such as Erkan Can (the lead), a straightforward but engaging story, and a lot to learn from.

An extraordinary experience

[jiri-severa · 10/10 · 12 November 2009]

Like all great works of art, Takva is a simple story: a man corrupted in an incorruptible world of a religious order of Sufi ecstatics. And like all great works of art, the story is at once utterly banal and profound beyond measure. A humble, self-effacing Muharrem, a devoted member of an Istanbul dargah is brought into a seemingly irresolvable inner conflict by the humility of his spiritual leader Cemal who acts on a dream that came to him from God, and appoints Muharrem the order's property administrator. The man's simple world and relationship with God is destroyed by an incomprehensible chasm that develops between his understanding of his faith and the leaders' whom he deeply respects and depends on. The story told by lesser masters than Cakar and Kiziltan, would probably end up a silly remake of a Forty-year old Virgin in Istanbul. But in their hands, Takva, God's omnipresence in the lives of the protagonists, is not just a believable story, but a masterful narration of a self-assured purpose, told at once with a great deal of human care for, and at the same time with a stoic detachment from, the predicament of a simple man's soul. The end effect is a brilliantly balanced irony. On the level of the plot – there is the unconditional respect for God's will in the two order's leaders which forces them to appoint and keep Muharrem against their better judgment observing his fear of God is that of an eunuch, and there is the unconditional respect for God's will by Muharrem based on his straightforward demand for purity and compassion. On the micro level, the writing has dashes of clever insight into human interiors: a sigh from master Ali, Muharrem's employer: "now I am the idiot's secretary" , and the order's counsel Rauf's revelation in "take this watch, brother; it keeps time precisely; it is made by the heathen". The ecstatic chants and movements of the dervishes' dhikr as a background make the movie an extraordinary experience.

Bribery

[ng23 · 7/10 · 24 November 2006]

I watched this movie at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, and enjoyed it.

However, I've been trying to work something out.

What did the people who were trying to bribe Muharrem want from him?

Did they want the Order to give them construction contracts?

Did they just want to get in his good books because he was a influential man in the community?

If anyone who has watched this has any idea, please post.

The director was present at the screening, and he was asked this question in the Q&A after the movie. He didn't really understand the question, I think it was lost in translation, as he only spoke Turkish.

Thanks.

Religion and power

[sergepesic · 9/10 · 21 June 2010]

The unhappy marriage of religion and power brought devastating consequences many a time in history. " Takva", powerful and brave take on Turkish struggle between secular and religious, tries to shed some light on this serious problem. Muharem, simple, childishly pious man, lives happily enough praying feverishly, in modest circumstances. And then comes the temptation. The leader of his own sect orders him to overlook rent collecting, gives him a car and a driver, fine suits, respect. His simple, ritualistic life is over. It is hard not feel sorry for Muharem and the end of his calm existence. For all he gained he lost ten times more.

Wonderful insight into a culture & human nature

[msvaidya · 9/10 · 2 May 2009]

Saw this on WorldLink TV last night - gripping from the first frame. Wonderful journey into Turkish Sufi lives & the character of a simple devout person presented with difficult life choices. The story & character development is excellent. Interplay between the main character & his employer/benefactor and then with the other members of the sect is presented in a great way. I come from an Asian culture and could immediately connect to the protagonists struggle to solve a complex nature of problems and make them fit within his simplistic religious view.

Cinematically brilliant, great acting, wonderful cinematagrophy Catch it if you can.

organized religion messes you up

[filmalamosa · 4/10 · 14 December 2011]

This is a hard movie to watch especially the last half hour or so with all the cuts to demonic like nightmares and sequences..

Here is what I think the movie is about (I may be wrong):

The main character goes on a journey of enlightenment that shows him that common sense and kindness(a heart) trump any earthly authority of organized religion. He discovers that getting involved too much with organized religion is corrupting. The religious brotherhood can do the work of the Devil too--The religious leader is shown flanked by huge fires like a scene from Hell.

In short the movie is a slam at organized religion and how it messes up men's minds.

The movie gets a 4. It is rough with too many cuts too many nightmares and is hard to understand.... no wonder it won a prize these are the favorite ones at film festivals.

Don't really recommend--

An inner look at an Islamic faction

[cemil-turun · 8/10 · 24 December 2006]

This is a rare example of an inner look at the Islamic sects and their organizations. Although the movie is a fiction, at times you may think you are watching a documentary of a Turkish Islamic sect and its rituals.

Tha main character, Muharrem is a devout and simple believer and a follower of the sect. He gets selected by his Efendi (sheikh of the sect) for collecting the rent money of the sect. This purely financial act affects Muharrem morally and psychologically.

Erkan Can plays an excellent Muharrem. Guven Kirac (Rauf the vice sheikh) and Meray Ulgen (the sheikh) are very very believable in their roles.

This probably one of the finest examples of the new Turkish cinema.

fear that becomes a disaster

[fatihcantekin · 9/10 · 7 April 2007]

the movie and it's consistency with,the reality of such kind of religion originated community, is marvelous since you feel familiar most of the stages with the man you recognize which is rigidly religious.It is rare and very difficult to create such kind of complicated film especially for a director which had directed only moderate TV series in Turkey.He surpassed the expectation thanks to his talent and observation.Besides director, the casting and performance of the actors is impressive since they really overcame the difficulty of the performing the characters who are rare in community and which differs from society by small details.The way pilot flows is satisfactory but on the other hand,the simplicity of some parts of the movie, especially in final minutes,does not meet the expectation of the audience which expects the ultimate end.The issue director criticize is imagined untouchable for the conservative parts of society.according to me we should congratulate the courageous and objective view of director.it is a good film for whom are open minded and opposing.

God, Relations and perfect role Play

[ejderkelebek · 9/10 · 16 May 2007]

The film is about a devoted man to God and his rise in a Way of Islamic society. The film focuses on an ordinary man's Islamic life to his interference with money affairs and the results of it. The psychological state of the man is analyzed from sociological way as well.

The film is great from two main aspects. The first aspect is Erkan Can's wonderful role play. Enormous acting performance. Just unbelievable. The other great side is, the film is shot at real historical places of Istanbul.

The only weakness of the film is the end part of it. The enormous entrance the psychological and sociological perfectness in the beginning was not given in as good as beginning.

Moreover as a philosopher I would like to comment that this film gives a side of Islamica philosophy both its sociology.

extraordinary life of an ordinary man

[erkanbayraktar15 · 10/10 · 4 December 2006]

Why do we suffer?Do we need to?Cant we just pray to god and try to be a good person?Takva is looking for the answer of those questions.Muharrem is a very loyalty man to all.He immigrated from Algeria but after his parents death,he started to live alone.He works for the man which his father also used to.He prays a lot and he just tries to be a good people.He is one of the members of a well known sect.He always attends to the ceremony of the sect and one day the leader of the sect asks him if he can work for sect.Muharrem accepts it and starts to do material businesses of the sect.After that his life turns to a tragedy.Because he is not good at accounting and starts to have sin which he hadn't before.He also sees some unwanted dreams which are sexual.he thinks thats the punishment of life to him.The leader doesn't does not understand his situation and muharrem gets lost in the darkness of his soul.All the things are meaningless for him anymore.At the last sequence of the movie,he follows the hero of his dreams under the rain and he faces with the fact.The hero of his nightmare is his leader's daughter..

to avoid of sin because of the fear of god

[ekinaytac · 10/10 · 22 December 2006]

It's a good movie to get know a profile of the religious Muslims, to get know "sects" and the amazing, fascinating worship of them. To find answers to the questions like; "how does a sect process and what's happening inside of a sect?". But it doesn't give a political message, a movie that "sit on the fence". But I congratulate the director for at least his bravery to submit these kind of sources and to try to answer some questions or to ask some questions. The main actor Erkan Can has a great performance.

Besides the musics that are made by Replicas, (Gokce Akcelik) are great. Enjoy...

Wow

[imlouistheroux · 1/10 · 7 May 2020]

Nothing but the pathological apprehensions of the anti-Muslim people of Turkey in a nutshell. A good example of Turkish Islamophobes' ignorance, and misconceptions and misunderstanding of Islam. There is a POV scene of the psychotic protagonist where his vision goes funny. Apparently this extraordinary piece of art work enlightens the viewer about not only Islam but also medical science by showing how a mentally ill person's visual perception changes. So this should give you a hint about the intellect behind this film and how good it is at reflecting reality. If you're curious about Islam, I would recommend searching for Sufi orders of Turks a hint is check footages from 1980s. Don't take this film any serious about what it says about Islam it's nonsense. Anyone with the tinyest taste in cinema would not be able to watch half of it anyway. So bigots will keep being bigots and filling their tasteless lives with suck junk. What else is there to say.

Father doctrine leads to catatonia

[merveswiss · 10/10 · 19 December 2021]

Muharrem lives his whole life in his father's home, works in the job, which assigned by his father. Muharrem's first boss was the father of his current boss and Muharrem's own father was the one who introduced him to the older boss. Morover, Muharrem is a member of a religious sect led by another powerful father figure. He forbiddens himself any kind of women relationship and intimacy. Anytime he is waking up in an arousal state following a dream - interestingly always the same woman, who he has no clue who she actually is- he washes himself to clean from the sin. So far he takes himself innocent, humble person who is devoted himself to the Patriarch with greatfullness and feith. Until one day, when he was challenged by a sin other then lust. The seductions of material world like job promotion, priviligaes, being in a position to seal other's fate. In the film this was first showed in a scene where the fury member of the sect puts an apple -the universal symbol of the first sin- on the table while Muharrem is having his dinner and arguing with Rauf about collecting money from the mechanic who was drinking alcohol (raki) during Muharrem's visit. Struggling with these challenges makes him an anxious man. First he tries to cope with the new feelings by repeating over and over the old rituals like praying, cleaning and namaz. But his weapons (like praying) are no more sufficient to protect him. The talented actor Erkan Can reflects his feelings brilliantly. You can see Muharrem is in anger yet there is astonishment in his eyes. And during this struggle he finds no comfort or guidance from his Religious leader. Because religion is a distant, numb ideal, has no real power on when it comes to an actual threat. The moment that Muharrem realizes or finds out that the women in his dreams was actually the daughter of the religious leader he follows in that moment he collapses. This scene was implied with a heavy rain and flooding of the subconscious. That's the manifestation that he has never been innocent or clean from the sins as he thought he was. He was unconsciously dreaming for his leader's daughter, looking her with men's eye, which is taken as a great sin and ungratefulness to the sact in the eye of the religious public. The film ends Muharrem in state of catatonia. The religion cripples him yet his state of catatonia was declared a holy position by his religious leader and this is how the wheel goes on to grind the people further and further.