A comparative analysis on the cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky and Semih Kaplanoğlu from the perpective of auteur theory

In the 90's there has been an increase in the number of auteur directors in Turkish cinema. In the early 2000s Semih Kaplanoğlu has become part of The New Turkish Cinema founded by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Zeki Demirkubuz, Derviş Zaim and Yeşim Ustaoğlu. Semih Kaplanoğlu, has become one of the leading names in the New Turkish Cinema with his movies namely; Everyone in His Own Home, Angel's Fall and Yusuf Trilogy Egg, Milk, Honey. Drawing attention especially with the Yusuf Trilogy, the director adopts poetic cinema language and produces films with the cinematic style defined by him as "spiritual realism." Kaplanoğlu states that while building his cinema he was influenced by directors such as Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson, Michelangelo Antonioni and Andrei Tarkovsky. In the cinema of Kaplanoğlu, the influences of the directors who inspire him are observed in the elaboration of themes such as spirituality, existentialism, quest, family, home, individual, modernity and society, and in the use of camera and editing which shape his poetic film language. Particularly, the influence of Andrei Tarkovsky, the most important representative of poetic cinema, whom Kaplanoğlu considers as a master is clearly visible in his films. Kaplanoğlu says: "If he had not made a film, my motivation for making a film would not be so strong". Andrei Tarkovsky and Semih Kaplanoğlu are auteur directors. Although their languages, religions, geographies and periods are different, in this study the similarities marking that make the two directors as auteur will be analyzed. Thus, thematic and formal associations in their films will be revealed.