Amazing! Kudos to Russell Crowe

Rating: Null/10 (17 December 2014)

I was persistent enough to get tickets to the special Village Cinemas Screening of this great film in Australia.
The plot is very novel and interesting - focusing on the aftermath of the Gallipoli/Anzac War and one father's (Russell Crowe) determination to track down each one of his presumably deceased three sons - all who served as Australian soldiers in the war - in order to bury all of them "at home." Definitely a unique plot.
The film is essentially a mix of epic Hollywood elements and an accurate, respectable portrayal of both the Turkish army and culture. The latter is largely why this film succeeds - because it doesn't judge, but rather it observes the practices of the Turkish people. This element combined with some powerful Hollywood emotional scenes make for a very enjoyable and extraordinary viewing experience.
In some scenes, the Australian soldiers express regret in relation to the Gallipoli War - why were we there? what did we achieve? what did we aim to achieve? These questions are very important because the only outcome achieved from the invasion was the death of countless Australian and Turkish soldiers. Ironically, this may be the main critique by media and other reviewers - because Russell Crowe will be wrongly hated for using film to communicate to the audience how futile the Gallipoli War was, how thousands of lives were lost and families destroyed all in the name of nothing.
The most intriguing and amazing aspect of the entire film is the close friendship between the Turkish and Australian soldiers after the war - there are even multiple comments in what appear to be in jest of this bond - however, to say the least, it is a great exemplification of the humaneness and genuineness of all soldiers who fought in the war. The similarities between soldiers on both sides of each army is so unsettling it is almost uncanny - the most obvious being the Turkish Major Hasan's (played by a very convincing and excellent Yilmaz Erdogan) decision to help Crowe (Mr Conner) in his search for his sons. Hasan is a father just like Conner - he can share the pain and heartbreak of losing children and simply not knowing their precise fate.
The Turkish army is manifested to be a group of very respectable people merely defending their home land and for this I praise Crowe the most - there was no bad guy, there was no evil, there was just useless and pointless killings and this epiphany is (unfortunately) recognised only after the war was over. Ultimately, we were all friends, we could all get along, but it took thousands of soldiers lives just to realise this.
Russell Crowe was very smart as both Director and Actor in this film. There are multiple scenes in which Crowe appears to very ignorant of Turkish ideas, customs and behaviour. However, it is very clear that Crowe has extensively studied Turkish culture as he could not have made this film so meticulous otherwise.
I give the Water Diviner a solid 9.5/10 - just short of a masterpiece. The only thing Crowe could have added is a touch more character development and depth. Not to say that it was not sufficient, because it most certainly was, but if he just took that extra step he may very well have created a flawless flick - or maybe I'm just nitpicking!