The Water Diviner

Joshua Connor, an Australian farmer, is good at finding where to sink a well; he senses water underground. He lost three sons at Gallipoli and his wife could not survive it. In 1919 he goes to Turkey alone, meaning to find where his sons are buried and bring them home. Against him are a British command that will not permit it and, on the other side of the war, a Turkish officer, Major Hasan, who helps him. Russell Crowe directed and played Connor in his first film as director. Olga Kurylenko plays the woman running a hotel in Istanbul, Yilmaz Erdogan plays Major Hasan, Cem Yilmaz plays Sergeant Cemal and Jai Courtney plays Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios wrote it and Andrew Lesnie shot it. Filming took place in both Australia and Turkey. What is unusual is the point of view. Western films about Gallipoli are generally one-sided; here the Turkish officers are people with reasons of their own. It was the highest-grossing Australian film at home in 2014, while the worldwide total stopped at 35 million dollars. Who it is for: viewers who like postwar search stories and historical drama that looks from both sides. Who it is not for: anyone after historical precision. The film bends the real conditions considerably to make Connor's journey possible.