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Crowe, Russell (dir.): The Water Diviner

Crowe, Russell (director)

The Water Diviner, Fear of God Films and other production companies, Australia, 2014

Alison Broinowski briefly reviews the film for Honest History. A further review from Peter Stanley, including a link to an interview with the writers and more comments from readers. (See also our review of another, rather better, Great War movie, Testament of Youth.) Panayiotis Diamadis reviews the movie in Neos Kosmos (Hellenic version). A thoughtful review from Richard Phillips on the World Socialist Web Site, including this on whether the movie is ‘anti-war’:

Numerous movies have exposed the horrible reality of war, but to be classified as “anti-war,” some understanding of the driving forces behind the barbarity must be provided, or, at the very least, an attempt to stimulate audiences to investigate such issues.

Cast and credits are at the above link. Essentially, the film is about an Australian who travels to Turkey in 1919 to try to locate his three sons, missing since Gallipoli. Other reviews are by Sandra Hall (Fairfax), Paul Byrnes (Fairfax), various people on Rotten Tomatoes, Leigh Paatsch (Herald-Sun), News.com.au, and Eddie Cockrell (Variety). Guy Walters in The Telegraph (London) complains about films based on historical events. Philippa Hawker (Fairfax) on the making of the film. Further comment from Karl Quinn of Fairfax. Review and comments on the Australian War Memorial’s Education Facebook page. An article by Panayiotis Diamadis on an Australian soldier whose experience had some similarities to Arthur Connor, the surviving son in the film. A cartoon from The Age, 24 January, by John Spooner, which touches on the important historical context of the film. A further Australian comment, with comments on the comment from Peter Stanley. Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian. Centre for Eurasian Studies. Australian Turkish Advocacy-Alliance. Alexander Scott, an historian from Lancaster University, UK. London Telegraph. Erdem Koc on Turkey and Gallipoli and the movie. Angela Dawson in Front Row Features (interviews Rusty). Bruce Scates and Rebecca Wheatley present evidence on the identity of the man upon whom the story was based.

22 December 2014 and updated