The Water Diviner

This review may contain spoilers!

This is an incredibly respectful film about Gallipoli and for that I think it's worth watching. I would give The Water Diviner a 7/10.

This film had a great perspective on the Gallipoli battle in the sense that this film was supremely respectful of both Australian and Turkish perspectives; I mean the film opens with how Turkey saw that battle and we are reminded throughout of the importance of how that impacted Turkey throughout the film. This film is also important in abolishing for the most part the 'white saviour' trope, which basically means that Russell Crowe didn't help the Turkish but was in fact helped by the Turkish, a very important theme I feel. The musical score was also incredible, and the balance of Turkish inspired pieces was a great addition.

Jai Courtney, who played Lt. Col. Cyril Hughes, portrayed a great military figure; his defense and attempts to work alongside the Turkish military were great to see. Russell Crowe, who played Connor, was a great lead in this film; his blind determination and a=inability to initially comprehend foreign customs was really enthralling to watch. Yilmaz Erdogan, who played Major Hasan, was a great contrasting figure to Crowe; his national pride and his connection with Crowe made him a strong character in the film. Ryan Corr, who played Art, went from a minor character to an incredibly well developed character in the space of five minutes; when he killed his own brother I think the whole film really stepped up. Dylan Georgiades, who played Orhan, was an incredibly talented child actor; he had some great chemistry with Crowe and Kurylenko.

And speaking of, I found the best actor of the film to be Olga Kurylenko, who played Ayshe. Kurylenko brings power to this film; some serious talent. She is a catalyst for the divide between Australia and Turkey, her constant reminder to Crowe that he doesn't understand is perfectly captured. Frankly this is Kurylenko's film and this is the type of film we should be making more of so that we can see more talent like hers.

This film was directed by Russell Crowe but I don't think he knew how to do it very well. The cinematography felt blocky and amaeurish, while the editing was basic and lacked any realy consistency.

Jacqueline McKenzie, who played Eliza, gave an exaggerated performance that diminished the importance of the children in this film. Cem Yilmaz, who played Jemal, was a source of comedic relief that fell rather flat in the film. Deniz Akdeniz, who played Imam, wasn't a very strong antagonist and as such his role failed to draw my interest as an audience member.