Reflections (1) on Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Ahlat Ağacı” (The Wild Pear Tree)
Sinan’s personal struggle strongly suggests an autobiographical element. Nuri Bilge Ceylan grew up in a small town slightly to the east of Çan, which is a one-hour bus ride east of Çanakkale (on the Dardanelles) over the Kayacı Mountains. Ceylan’s home town is called Yenice, and he had to start from the bottom, with no help whatsoever, to make his own name in Turkish cinema. This is perhaps echoed in the way Sinan is trying to break out through literature.