Starring: Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Yilmaz Erdogan, Cem Yilmaz, Jai Courtney, Dylan Jett Georgiades, Steve Bastoni, Isabel Lucas, Salih Kalyon, Megan Gale, Ryan Corr, James Fraser, Ben O'Toole, Jacqueline McKenzie
Review: In 1919, an Australian farmer, Joshua Conner (Russell Crowe), goes to search for his three sons, who went off to fight against the Turks in the bloody Battle of Gallipoli. Conner must travel across the battle-ridden terrain to find his boys, the truth, and peace.
I went into The Water Diviner without any expectation, without seeing a trailer, or knowing much of anything about it other than it's Russell Crowe's directorial debut. That almost never happens with movies these days. Just about everything is spoiled before you sit down to watch it. Well, I have to say that The Water Diviner was a big surprise! I was very impressed.
That Russell Crowe made a very entertaining, compelling drama, filled with great characters and wonderful locations. For a movie that is about a desperate father searching for his MIA sons, it was surefooted about showing brutal about the war, the aftermath, and the emotions on both sides. It didn't shy away from the tough subject matter and certainly brought a lot of poignancy to a story of a parent losing kids during wartime.
And Crowe's performance is perfect. This is not a vanity project, but a passion project. You can see that he wants to tell a story about people dealing with feeling powerless, lost, and trapped. Olga Kurylenko has never been better as Ayshe, the hotel manager, who builds a strong relationship with Russell's character. It's a romance of sorts, but there's much more going on between the two of them. They have great chemistry together as two strangers both dealing with loss. And the two scene stealers are Yilmaz Erdogan as Major Hasan and Cem Yilmaz as Sgt. Jemal. These Turkish actors are the real stars of this picture. I wanted a movie solely about their characters. They are strong, funny, and broken men dealing with what's to become of their home after the dust settles from Gallipoli. Amazing performances!
The film also has humor, heart, and hope, which helps deal with the heavy subject matter. This is not a war movie. It's more of a human story of living in chaos and finding peace. The Water Diviner caught me totally caught me off guard. Such a great effort by Crowe both in front of and behind the camera. I hope he directs again. If not, I'll just re-watch this one.
Fun Fact: Having convinced Russell Crowe to give him the role of Hasan by adding that you will never regret doing this, Yilmaz Erdogan won best supporting actor at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards for this movie.