'Because he is the only father who came looking.'

Rating: 10/10 (12 September 2015)

As written by writers Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios and directed by Russell Crowe, THE WATER DIVINER is one of the most profoundly moving stories about the devotion between fathers and sons that has been placed before us on the screen. The photography in both Australia and Turkey is astonishingly beautiful and the interplay between past actions and current circumstances that create this story is sensitively interwoven, emphasizing the passionate need for re-connection even after war has torn a family asunder.
Based on real events, the story opens in Australia in 1915 where we find Connor (Russell Crowe) divining for water and successfully discovering a hard won well. He returns to his farmhouse and we meet his wife Natalia (Isabel Lucas) whose mind has been damaged by the loss of her three sons away at war – the Battle of Gallipoli. She pleads with Connor to find them, not admitting to herself that they are war casualties – a state of mind that eventually leads to her suicide. After burying his wife he promises her he will find their sons and he travels to Turkey to gain permission to get to Gallipoli, believing that his water divining powers will help him find their graves. He meets with obstruction form the English and Australian military (Jai Courtney) still mopping up after the horrendous defeat by the Turks and gains help from a compassionate Turkish Major Hasan (Yilmas Erdogan) and his assistant Sgt Jemal (Cem Yilmaz). Meanwhile while awaiting papers to gain permission to go to Gallipoli Connor stays in a 'hotel' in Istanbul where he meets hotel manager Ayshe (a brilliant Olga Kurylenko) and her son Orhan (Dylan Georgiades). The relationship is strained because Connor represents the 'enemy' (Australian) but there is a chemistry that sparks and a tenderness and mutual help results. Connor ultimately is allowed to go to Gallipoli ('Hope's a necessity where I come from'), finds the bones of two of his sons, but the third is missing – he was taken prisoner – and it is this remaining live son that binds the story of the love between the Connor, his deceased sons and his deceased wife together in an ending that will gnaw at the emotions long after the film is over.
The cast is uniformly excellent with Russell Crowe in an especially brilliant and subtle performance. THIS is an Oscar worthy film. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, September 15