Pamuk and Kiarostami

of course one of the first questions that comes to my mind is: why isn't there a relationship between the two. after all, these are two of the most prominent personalities from that part of the world [at least in our distant, western view], they share a massive part of history, they share past imagery, stories, kingdoms and rulers. I don't know about Kiarostami but I do know that Pamuk hasn't interacted, at least publicly, with Kiarostami. and yet, there are many points of contact and similar recurrent points: snow, country narrow winding roads, solitude, mirrors, personality, Shirin, fables and so on. Pamuk's view on Iran is expressed in "Traffic", a very critical view of Iranian lack of freedom. On the other hand, Pamuk's hands-on movies (like Auster) have been a flop and his personal, emotional attachment to movies is more to kitsch Turkish cinema and to classical American films from the fifties. given this incompatibility, it is shockingly amusing that Kiarostami's film searching for a boy after the earthquake is so evocative of Pamuk's provincial roads in New Life and his depiction of the great Istanbul earthquake.

it is a shame that the two countries remain so unaware of each other's existence. two countries, in this instance, meaning both Turkey/Iran as well as Pamuk/Kiarostami.