The Water Diviner (2015)

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

After the Battle of Gallipoli, in 1915, an Aussie farmer called Connor (Russell Crowe), travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to attempt locate his three sons , allegedly missing in action . At a hotel he meets a beautiful widow (Olga Kurylenko who learned Turkish for her character), and later on he tries to find out a way in arrive to Gallipoli , where reportedly died his children . As he must travel across the war-torn landscape with the help of a British Lt Colonel called Hughes (Jai Courtney) and a Turkish Officer (Erdogan) . Meanwhile , there takes place the Greek-Turkish war and the invasion of Smirna by the Greeks . As it is set during the Turkish War of Independence, in revolutionary days during fall of the Ottoman Empire . The War resulted the defeat of Greece in Western Turkey (Greco-Turkish war), on the East, Armenian state and Britain, France and Georgia. This is a family story in which is treated thought-provoking issues with a tough man holding onto hope, fighting for a desire , and bringing to life a promise . Australian Russell Crowe gives an acceptable actiing as the Aussie father who goes out to find his 3 missing sons and while staying at a hotel in Istanbul, he falls in love with a gorgeous widow. The charming Olga Kurylenko is good as the attractive widow mistreated by his brother-in-law who wants to marry her . Support cast is pretty well , such as Jai Courtney , Isabel Lucas and Jacqueline McKenzie who also starred with Crowe in the 1992 hit Romper Stomper . And some fine Turks actors as Cem Yilmaz and Yilmaz Erdogan who are both comedy actors in Turkey . It displays a colorful and evocative cinematography by Oscar-winning cameraman Andrew Lesnie , being his final movie . Sensitive as well as thrilling musical score by David Hirschfelder , helped by Lisa Gerard .The motion picture was stunningly acted/produced/directed by Russell Crowe . The picture gives an interesting portrayal about the bloody campaign and battle of Gallipoli . There happened the following : The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign, the Battle of Gallipoli, or the Battle of Çanakkale , was a campaign of the First World War that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula (Gelibolu in modern Turkey) in the Ottoman Empire between 17 February 1915 and 9 January 1916. The peninsula forms the northern bank of the Dardanelles, a strait that provided a sea route to the Russian Empire, one of the Allied powers during the war. Intending to secure it, Russia's allies, Britain and France, launched a naval attack followed by an amphibious landing on the peninsula, with the aim of capturing the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (modern Istanbul).The naval attack was repelled and after eight months' fighting, with many casualties on both sides, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion force was withdrawn to Egypt.The campaign was the only major Ottoman victory of the war. In Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the nation's history, a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. The campaign is often considered to be the beginning of Australian and New Zealand national consciousness; 25 April, the anniversary of the landings, is known as "Anzac Day", the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in the two countries, surpassing Remembrance Day , Armistice Day .The struggle formed the basis for the Turkish War of Independence and the declaration of the Republic of Turkey eight years later, with Mustafa Kemal (Kemal Atatürk) as President, who rose to prominence as a commander at Gallipoli. Mustafa Kemal, Attaturk commanded the Turkish national movement in the war of independence. His successful military campaigns led to liberation of the country and to the establishing of Turkey. He transformed the former Ottoman Empire into a democratic, modern, secular nation-state , his reforms are referred as Kemalism. Ankara became the new capital and Kemal abolished the Caliphate and Sultanate. .

An Australian water diviner, Russell Crowe, loses three sons at Gallipoli in Turkey and after the war travels to the battlefield to retrieve their corpses. I know. It sound lugubrious -- a heavenly choir, the vanquishing of red tape by empathy, as the water diviner divines the skeletons of his sons, one by drawn-out one, and schleps them back home to Australia, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.Actually, it has plenty of color and dash and it doesn't turn out as expected. Shot in Australia and Turkey, there are some marvelous location shots as we're introduced not just to the battlefield but to Ottoman culture. A stunning shot of the interior of the blue mosque.Among the Ottoman artifacts is Olga Kurylenko. Somewhere, a religious cult should be established in her honor, its symbol her sternoclavicular notch. What a dish. Body by Bernini, neck by Modigliani. Suddenly, that line from "Dr. Strangelove" -- "toe to toe with the Russkies" -- doesn't sound like such a bad idea.The romance is subdued, as is Russell Crowe's performance. He's gained weight and lost definition since "L.A. Confidential" and his bulk now resembles that of John Wayne, a kind of massive heft that his brain orders about. He's quite professional as a director too, fond of overhead shots, but not too fond.The editor should be fired. Sometimes it was easy to get lost. There are flash forwards of whirling dervishes only you don't know they're flash forwards. The whirling dervishes are the decorous public kind, clean and dazed looking, not the Dionysian wild men of the tribal areas. I don't know how they can do it without falling down after the first few minutes.The film is more sympathetic to some of the Turkish soldiers now occupying the battlefield than it is with the British and Australian graves unit. The villains are Greeks, and there are scenes of battle resembling the perforated train sequence in "Lawrence of Arabia" and one or two echoes of "Young Churchill." The bloody combat scenes are disturbing in that they cause you to worry somewhat about just what the solution to the Middle East is.

"Are there any more records about my son? We are Ottomans, not Germans. "It looks like "Russell Crowe movie week" here. After "Fathers and daughters" I had to check his directorial debut. And to be honest, I thought this postwar dramatic film was much better than the sugarcoated "Fathers and daughters". In both films the father figure plays an important role. In "The Water Diviner" however, he's a grieving father whose sons were killed in the Battle of Gallipoli, which took place in Turkey during the 1st World War. A bloody battle, on a piece of land as large as a handkerchief, between Turkish troops and a corps with Australian and New Zealand troops (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps or ANZAC). It's beyond dispute that wars provide disgusting scenes which once again demonstrate the absurdity of such tragedies. The agony of the three brothers on the battlefield was the most unpleasant and difficult part of the entire movie. It was so terrible to watch. I really had enough of it at a given time. The relevance was clear to me. It wasn't clear to me why it had to take so miserable long.Apart from a few hiccups, I thought it was a fairly successful film. Looking at the technical side of the movie, you could say it was excellent. Perhaps it seemed to be a dramatized travel documentary at times. But the palette of colored fabrics and the interior view of Turkish mosques assured some visually stunning images. The phenomenal scene in Australia, where Connor (Russell Crowe) protects his three sons against an impressive sandstorm, was a breathtaking moment. And this impressive imagery is used throughout this reasonable epic adventure story. It resembled a bit "The Physician". In this case it's someone from down-under who gazes at the traditions, the folklore and the beauty of Istanbul. Naturally this leads to intercultural conflicts with a few yelling Turks, who defend their values, and a fleeing Aussie.The historical side was also fascinating. I don't know that much about the 1st World War. And certainly not about what happened in the Arab part of the world. The Turkish community wasn't happy about welcoming Australian tourists afterwards. This was also presented realistic. At the same time the cooperation between the ANZAC and Turkish Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan) also didn't proceed so smoothly and the intense hatred again resurfaced. And just let me mention the scene at the beginning with the local priest who has a huge problem with the burial of Connor's wife, because she committed suicide apparently. A strong moment. A proof that the short-slightness and insensitivity remained intact through the years.Altogether it's a wonderful debut from Crowe. And this combined with a not so bad leading role. The role Erdogan played was also noteworthy. A calm Turkish Major who forgets his grievances and offers his help to identify the tens of thousands of victims without hesitation. And additionally also aid Connor with his search for his lost sons. Dylan Georgiades plays the role of son Orhan enthusiastically. While the ultra-cool Olga Kurylenko gives shape to the widow Ayshe. An exotic beauty who's aloof at first, but as the film progresses her icy attitude slowly melts.And now it's time for the disappointing elements of this yet fascinating film. The "station novel"-like love story that was incorporated, wasn't really necessary according to me. The fact that it's about two individuals from two different cultures and each bearing a loss due to the war, sounds plausible. But they should have left it at that. The paranormal talent Connor supposedly possessed, was grossly exaggerated. Sure, maybe he can find water in the bone-dry Australian desert by using a twig. I'm willing to believe that. But him standing in the middle of a battlefield in a sort of trance surrounded by the rotting remains of thousands of victims and miraculously finding the location where his sons are lying, was a bit ridiculous. And then the Indiana Jones imitation in the end, clashed a bit with the rest of the film. But the biggest annoyance was the sound. The dramatic music and sound effects were terribly noisy. By contrast, the conversations were at whisper level. I had a sore thumb afterwards because I had to use continuously the volume button. But ultimately it was still a magnificent movie.More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

First of all the film is beautiful, full marks for cinematography. For me this is Russell Crowe's directorial debut and it shows. the film is good, but I didn't find myself empathising with his character Joshua Connor and even less with the family. Maybe Mr Crowe is just trying too hard for a big blockbuster, but as they say from small acorns and I fully expect that with his first film under the belt he will become much more adventurous. It isn't a bad start, just not great. I found myself more drawn to the Colin Firth character in The Railway Man. I look forward to his next film, Russell Crowe brings a great presence to the screen as an actor and ultimately will, no doubt do the same as a director.