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Connections, in both directions

L'Avventura poster
In themes and style, both films are evocative of early Antonioni; a 157-minute police procedural at once sensuous and cerebral, profane and metaphysical, "empty" and abundant, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is closer to the Antonioni of L'Avventura, and it elevates the 52-year-old director to a new level of achievement.
J. Hoberman • The Village Voice • Jan 4, 2012
archive.org ↗
Once Upon a Time in the West poster
In choosig the title, Ceylan obviously pays tribute to the late and great Italian director Sergio Leone and his two films, “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “Once Upon a Time in America.”
Emanuel Levy
archive.org ↗
Wild Tales poster
Consistently darker than the others, it also echoes Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s 2008 drama Three Monkeys, which was not a laugh riot.
Leviathan poster
The film is in some ways a more obvious successor to "Once Upon A Time In Anatolia" than Ceylan's own "Winter Sleep," matching the meditative rhythm and uncompromising artistry with a genuinely compelling story, and scenes as outright entertaining as anything we've seen in the festival.
With the exception of this drawn-out courtroom scene, which he plays for absurdist comedy (a la Romanian satire “Police, Adjective”), and a few extended driving sequences (echoes of Turkish procedural “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”), “Leviathan” typically moves much faster, covering far more ground over the course of its densely packed narrative.
Peter Debruge • Variety • May 23, 2014
variety.com ↗
The Raid 2 poster
At times, the beauty of the crisp gloom approaches the look of recent movies by Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan, such as  “Once Upon A Time In Anatolia.”
Ray Pride • Newcity Film • Apr 2, 2014
newcityfilm.com ↗
The Great Beauty poster
Aydin is the Turkish version of Jep Gamberdella in Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty, perhaps not as serene, but certainly as shallow, in late middle age still pinning his ego on an evanescent, youthful notoriety.
Film Journal International
filmjournal.com ↗

That's all the connections!