A great piece of story telling... possibly contains spoilers

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2014)

I've read various comments about this movie being just another chance to show Aussies at war; being something of a flag waving opportunity. These comments have emanated mainly from Americans who haven't even see the film. Yet it pales in comparison to many American war films, which also have traded on jingoistic fervour for the last 80 years. Modern war movies like Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket blow their Nationalistic horns very loudly. You would be mistaken for believing that only Americans died in WW1, WWII and Vietnam. America didn't even join WWI until it was half finished in 1917, took a year longer to join WWII and also fought alongside Kiwis & Aussies in Vietnam. Just as Aussies fought with Canadians, Kiwis and Brits in WWI & the Allies in WWII. The best example of a great war film is Paths of Glory. A war film and anti-war film in the same breath. However, it is jingoism and national identity which dies in that extraordinary film, dark and dirty and deep in the trenches, where such notions belong when they bring death for no good reason and for no real cause.
The fact is, the writers and Russell give a balanced and even-handed approach to the Turkish side of the story, and rightly points out that the Turks lost about 7 times as many people as the Allies. Russell also gives viewers a peek at what happened to the Ottoman Empire after the war, when other countries were carving it up for themselves. Especially by the British, in much the same way they acted later on, in their appalling handling of Palestine. And the rest of the world has been paying for it ever since. Just as the rest of the world also paid for the creation the Weimar Republic.
I once read that the Aussie population today would be more like 55 million people instead of 22 million if we hadn't entered this foreign war at the behest of the British, although the great immigration schemes of the 50s, populate or perish would have probably changed and maybe not to the good, given the many cultures new Australians continually bring to our shores.
To me, WWI was more about big business making a buck out of political good fortune than any true ideology except for the cannon fodder we call soldiers, and the poor civilians in those various war-torn lands.
I also want to point out that I have lots of cool American friends (and relatives including my lovely wife) and they are great people, but many of them tell me how insular and inward looking many of their citizens can be. That they are less likely to watch subtitled films or learn about foreign lands. And yet they embrace our actors. How many American TV shows have had Aussies (and Brits) in their casts lists. Like in The Originals, Vampire Diaries, The Mentalist, The Secret Circle, Moonlight, Defiance, True Blood, Hostages, United States of Tara, nip/tuck (A Prime Minister's son at that) Fringe, Unforgettable, Without a Trace, Spartacus and Longmire, to name a few.
This movie is awesome. I hope it is a hit, but I will be content for those people who see it, to enjoy it and take it for what it is, an entertainment. I think Olga is wonderful and all that actors are wonderful although Dan Wylie appears miscast. Megan Gale is in the film as Fatma, and does a good job although I must say I barely recognised her. It might have been a nice touch to have hired Turkish actors in the female leads, but I do think Olga is developing into a multi-faceted actress. The two Turkish leads are brillian and bring a lot to the film as a whole.
A special mention too, for young Melbourne actor, Dylan Georgiades who plays Olga's son. Dylan is great in his first major film role and brings much humour to the film, and steals most of his scenes. His relationship with Russell seems very real. It is also utterly ironical that a boy of Greek descent is playing a Turkish lad!!! For those of you that may not realise this, Robert Mammone, who plays the Greek officer later in the film, made his theatrical movie debut with Russell Crowe in 1990 in The Crossing. The lead actress in that film, Danielle Spencer is also married (although currently separated) to Russell. And for our overseas friends who like Russell's movies then I urge you to get these movies on DVD if you can, Proof (Hugo Weaving 1991), Romper Stomper (his lead actress in that film is his wife in The Water Diviner - do you spot a trend here?) The Sum of Us (where he works with Jack Thompson (and Russell is almost Jack Thompson incarnate in this film) You may want to check out some of Jack's early films if you can find them, like Sunday Too Far Away, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith and Caddie.
This isn't really an Aussie film, but a film for everyone, set mainly in Turkey, and which could have happened to any family living in Britain, USA, Canada, NZ etc but just happened to be written here. If you wish to be entertained at the movies this year then this is one of the best films to see. I saw The Hobbit on the same day as it was my Birthday, and both cinemas were packed. At the end of the Water Diviner most people clapped and quite a few women, like my wife cried. The Hobbit was also terrific, but no one clapped at the end. :) :) :)