The ANZAC Special

Today being the 25th of April I thought it was relevant to discuss The Water Diviner, Russel Crowe's newest movie. This World War I movie looks at a much different perspective than other similar WWI Movies.

Crowe plays the part of a grieving father of three sons who are all enrolled in the war. His character Joshua Connor travels to Turkey after the battle of Gallipoli in search of his three sons. When he finds the dead bodies of two of his sons, he assumes all hope is lost. However when a Turkish general tips him off that his third son was not killed and was in fact taken prisoner Connor begins to search for his missing son, as it is the last thing he has left. When the Turkish and Connor find a connection, it exaggerates the idea, that nobody knows what they are fighting for, as they are all portrayed as like minded people, as equals. This is also demonstrated later on in the film, as Connor teaches the Turkish military how to play cricket, and they all laugh and have fun.

While all this is happening, Joshua Connor meets a girl in Istanbul named Ayshe, who originally doesn't like him, however as she discovers that he is looking for his son, and is not hostile, she begins to sympathise and becomes friendly with him over time as she has a son herself. At one point she does a coffee fortune reading for Joshua, which is a common Turkish Tradition. This coffee motif is then used to show the importance of coffee and marriage, later in the film.

The ending also comes back to the coffee motif. After Joshua locates his son, he returns to Istanbul and finds Ayshe who does not seem surprised to see him return, when he asks her she states "I saw it in your coffee a few weeks earlier." She then hands him a coffee, although when he puts his spoon in it, it reveals a large lump of sugar, this symbolises marriage. If a coffee was sweet, it meant they were interested in a relationship. This is open ended however as they both stand up and smile to each other and it cuts directly to credits.

All in all, the film makes a great attempt at looking at both sides of the war from a different perspective, and at the same time does not glorify the Australians, or the Turkish. It is a film about equality. The premise is ok. However the storyline is obvious and simple to guess.

Final Verdict 7.5/10

Scott