According to Nuri Bilge Ceylan, The Wild Pear Tree is about a son's unavoidable slide towards a fate resembling that of his father.
In Nuri Bilge Ceylan's own words Ahlat Agaci "attempts to tell the story of a young man who senses with a feeling of guilt that he is different in a way that he cannot come to accept, that he is being dragged towards a destiny that he cannot embrace, as well as the rich mosaic of people surrounding him, without favoring or being unfair to anybody".
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's screenplay for The Wild Pear Tree, as usual, contains quotes from various sources including Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ibn Arabi, Shams-i Tabrizi, Peyami Safa, Yunus Emre and Muhammed.
Reportedly, the Cannes selection committee asked Nuri Bilge Ceylan to shorten the length of the film to which Ceylan declined.
The film is inspired by the real story of co-writer Akin Aksu's father, and the character arc of the protagonist, Sinan, is also based on none other than Akin Aksu himself.