Russell Crowe's The Water Diviner shows the war through many eyes [Review]

Published: 
By Melanie Leung
Listen to this article
By Melanie Leung |
Published: 
Comment

Latest Articles

DSE 2024: To ace English Paper 1, pay attention to details and use ChatGPT to study

Australia’s ‘earless dragon’ faces extinction due to climate change

WHO Europe report says 16% of all adolescents were cyberbullied in 2022

Hong Kong’s MTR Corp to hike ticket prices by 3% this year

Conflict through a writer’s eyes: 5 books set during war

Hong Kong’s Central harbourfront gets splash of colour for ‘Art March’

Russell Crowe's directorial debut The Water Diviner is a powerful reminder of how devastating war is.

Crowe plays Joshua Connor, an Australian farmer who travels to Turkey to recover the bodies of his three sons, all of whom are thought to have died in the first world war's Battle of Gallipoli.

Connor trusts his heart will bring him to his sons. Doing so, he builds a shy romance with hotel owner Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) and forms a camaraderie with Major Hasan (a brilliant Yilmaz Erdogan), who won the battle that killed Connor's sons.

Opening with a battle scene from the Turkish perspective, the film depicts how war affects both the victorious and the defeated. As you get to know the characters and the threats they face, you suddenly realise how indifferent you felt watching soldiers being shot down in the opening scenes.

Crowe's performance is subtle, but Kurylenko is not convincing as a woman forced to marry her late husband's brother. The bilingual characters were also awkward as they switch between English and Turkish.

These drawbacks are compensated by Andrew Lesnie's cinematography, which is instrumental in bringing out the emotions of the story.

Our world is still at war; we could all do with a reminder of the plight many people are still suffering today.

Sign up for the YP Teachers Newsletter
Get updates for teachers sent directly to your inbox
By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Comment