Story starts OK, but then quickly disintegrates. Historic dishonesty kills it.

Rating: 5/10 (19 January 2018)

This movie starts with some beautiful wide shots, then quickly turns sentimental. When the father arrives in Turkey to look for his sons after the battle of Gallipoli, the story seems to hold up, but quickly starts disintegrating into non-relevant elements. Towards the end it's getting weak and very hard to watch. Think soap-opera cheesy.
I was also very irritated by the attempts at whitewashing Ottoman/Turkish history. First this happens when visiting the Blue Mosque, where the father is so surprised to acknowledge that such a beautiful thing does not exist in his culture. Well, maybe not in Australia, but sitting next to it is the Hagia Sophia, until modern times the building with the largest dome, which was a Christian Church until it was captured by the same Ottomans during their conquest of the Byzantine (Roman) Empire. The Hagia Sophia is thus an expression of the same culture that led to the culture of Australia. Second, during the second half, Greeks are painted as truly evil villains against the noble Turks, whereas during the period of 1914-1922 is known by historians as the Greek genocide: the systematic genocide of the Christian Ottoman Greek population from Turkey, by the Ottoman Empire's government. Third, the movie is also completely silent about the Armenian genocide from 1915-1923 where the same (Islamic) government exterminated 1.5 million (Christian) Armenians, something acknowledged by international scholars, but denied by Turkish government to this day. That same genocide has been the inspiration for Hitler's genocide against among others the Jews during World War 2. He said of it:
"Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality. Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to slaughter -- with premeditation and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state. It's a matter of indifference to me what a weak western European civilization will say about me.
I have issued the command -- and I'll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad -- that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formations in readiness -- for the present only in the East -- with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
Hitler was well aware that denial of the Armenian genocide was a strong signal that his tyranny would not be opposed by the civilized world. It is telling that Russell Crowe sought Turkish approval, and the Turkish minister of culture told him "I believe in the script.". That's the same minister who's responsible for Article 301 in the penal code, which has been used to prosecute Turkish citizens who have brought the Armenian genocide to the attention of the people.
No wonder Armenian and Greek organizations have called for a boycot of this film.