The Water Diviner

I have always had a fascination with Australia as far back as I can remember, so when I had heard that "The Water Diviner" was not only an Australian film, but starred Russell Crowe, who is a fine actor, I couldn't resist. Australia has produced many fine films including "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", "Australia", "The Mad Max" films, including the new one released on 5-15, "The Rover", "The Sapphires",to mention a few. Their films are rivaling those of Hollywood hugely, so much so that more and more people are flocking to these films. No wonder here.

Four years after the battle of Gallipoli in 1915, an Australian farmer, Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) after losing his wife, Eliza (Jacqueline McKenzie) travels to Turkey to attempt to locate his three missing sons, Arthur (Ryan Corr), Edward (James Fraser) and Henry (Ben O'Toole) from the war reported missing in action. As he's there, he forges a reluctant relationship with a beautiful hotel manager, Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) where he is staying. Holding on to hope, he must travel across the war-torn landscape with the help of a Turkish Officer, Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan) and an Australian Officer, Lt. Colonel Hughes (Jai Courtney), both veterans of the battles. Question: Is Connor as good at locating his sons as he is at locating water on his farm property? He will find that this is the challenge of a lifetime.

Others to round out the cast are Cem Yilmaz as Cemal, Dylan Georgiades as Orhan, Ayshe's son, Steve Bastoni as Omer, Isabel Lucas as Natalia, Salih Kalyon as Dr. Ibrahim, Megan Gale as Fatma and Damon Herriman as Father McIntyre.

It seizes to amaze me that the number of newer, but talented filmmakers that have come along recently have more than impressed me--nothing surprises me anymore. This  was exquisitely directed by Russell Crowe ("Texas" (Documentary) '02) plus two shorts. After viewing this film, one would believe that Crowe has directed many films, because his style is as consummate as any veteran director out there. He was able to pull the nuances of the period out of these actors with finesse. It was equally well written by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios based on true events. Most of the experience of these writers is TV, especially Knight. This is why I feel that newer writers should cut their teeth on a lot of TV, before they attempt to tackle feature films. This film proved that concept. There were a couple of very small places of inconsistencies in this, but not enough to draw the audience from the grit this definitely provided. It's one man's story of finding his sons, whether dead or alive, and bringing them home no matter the insurmountable odds.

This is a film that is worthy of watching whether it is based on true events or not, because it shows such a determination of this man believing that blood is definitely thicker than water. And this is something we all can learn from.

Speaking of life, I just lost a dear friend of mine recently cut short in his life. So I would like to dedicate this film toward his memory. May you rest in peace my friend Eric.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                    Rated: R                                 111mins.