Pamela Anderson Calls Iranian Director Cinema's 'Original Gangster'

Pamela Anderson is experiencing a remarkable renaissance, and anyone not paying attention is missing something extraordinary. The Canadian actress saw her career initially defined by her role as CJ on Baywatch, where she spent five seasons running in slow motion wearing that iconic red swimsuit while occasionally sharing thoughts about crystals, mermaids, and mythical creatures. No matter how you analyze that character, it's hard to escape the fact that it was created primarily to satisfy male fantasies.

Decades have passed since Baywatch introduced Anderson to the world, and after several high-profile marriages and tabloid controversies, she's finally emerging from behind her own celebrity image and shocking nearly everyone. Whether she's sharing gardening expertise on her television show or delivering spontaneous musical performances in The Naked Gun, she has effectively silenced the judgmental media of the '90s and early 2000s without even addressing them directly.

A Sophisticated Cinema Enthusiast Emerges

It shouldn't surprise anyone now that the former Baywatch actress has depth, but for those who forgot or weren't paying close attention, here's another compelling reason to take her seriously. During her visit to the beloved Criterion Closet, Anderson demonstrated that she's a true film lover through and through.

Her first selection while browsing the shelves was the steamy French drama La Piscine, featuring Alain Delon smoldering poolside in the French countryside, radiating enough charisma to mesmerize anyone within sight. She then chose David Lynch's Blue Velvet, Henri-Georges Clouzot's La Vérité, Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, and Federico Fellini's La Strada.

Praising Iran's Cinematic Pioneer

However, it was an Iranian filmmaker who received her highest praise. Holding up a copy of the Koker trilogy, Abbas Kiarostami's examination of life in the small Iranian town, she declared, "[He] was the original gangster when it came to those kinds of beautiful films that are so poetic."

While we might question overlooking Fritz Lang, Powell and Pressburger, Ingmar Bergman, and other directors who created beautiful, poetic cinema before the late '80s, Kiarostami certainly made extraordinary use of film as an art form and deserves recognition alongside his predecessors in this category.

Master of Minimalist Storytelling

Though Anderson highlighted the Koker trilogy, which includes 1987's Where Is the Friend's House?, 1992's Life, and Nothing More…, and 1994's Through the Olive Trees, films like Taste of Cherry and The Wind Will Carry Us also demonstrate how this director pioneered New Wave Iranian cinema. Unlike many who came after him, he successfully worked within the constraints of strict government censorship by developing a minimalist approach that revealed profound truths about his subjects.

His movies feature extended takes, distant shots, and minimal dialogue, encouraging viewers to discover personal, spiritual, and often existential meanings between the lines. Many of his works explore filmmaking itself, blending fiction with documentary elements. He stands among the great minimalists of his era, proving cinema's power to illuminate ordinary life in ways that can deeply affect audiences across the globe, something Anderson clearly appreciates.