Epic First Effort

Rating: 7/10 (19 March 2015)

Water Diviner, Russ's directorial debut, is a demanding, complex story about an Australian man whose journey is fraught with the consequences of a hard life and the trials of letting his sons go to war. Diviner's production values are top notch. The cinematography excellent. The largely consistent script could so have used a couple more tightening drafts. Having said that, it's possible Russ changed things on set, on instinct and on the fly, as writer Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios's work on this story is obvious and usually impeccable.
I've nothing against romantic elements creeping into a story, but Russ allows too many emotional colors and sentimental textures to bleed together in this story telling. Dramatic peaks suffer from that sentimentality, which shows Russ's inexperience as a director. Some of the dialogue, meant to be innocent or naive, also indulges sentimentality. It's interesting to see these chinks and flaws appear in Russ's judgment in his story telling. Those criticisms aren't to detract from his major achievement in producing an entertaining and watchable romantic war drama. To give Russell his full due, directing and acting in a film epic of this nature was no mean feat. Russ and his crew have done an excellent job. It's just that where Russ's judgement is flawed, so is the film. Had Director Russ allowed himself a mentoring assistant, someone with proved chops in the Directorial story telling department, I have no doubt I would be standing and applauding The Water Diviner. I salvage that kudos and bestow it upon the awesome performance of Yilmaz Erdogan. He gave this story the touch of gravitas and authenticity it needed to be satisfying.
I look forward to supporting Russ's next effort. That he's known to us as Russ, it goes without saying how much he's loved like a brother in Australia and New Zealand for his achievements already.