The Water Diviner (2014)

An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons.

Director:

Russell Crowe

Writers:

Andrew Knight, Andrew Anastasios

Stars:

Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney

14 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Russell Crowe	...	Connor
Olga Kurylenko	...	Ayshe
Yilmaz Erdogan	...	Major Hasan
Cem Yilmaz	...	Sgt. Jemal
Jai Courtney	...	Lt Colonel Hughes
Dylan Jett	...	Orhan (as Dylan Georgiades)
Steve Bastoni	...	Omer
Isabel Lucas	...	Natalia
Salih Kalyon	...	Dr. Ibrahim
Megan Gale	...	Fatma
Ryan Corr	...	Art
James Peter Fraser	...	Edward (as James Fraser)
Ben O'Toole	...	Henry
Jacqueline McKenzie	...	Eliza
Jack Patterson	...	Young Art

Storyline

An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons reported missing in action, where he forges a relationship with the beautiful Turkish woman who owns the hotel in which he stays. Holding onto hope, he must travel across the war-torn landscape with the help of a Turkish Officer, himself a veteran of the battles.

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Plot Keywords:

world war one | 1910s | gallipoli | australian | battle of gallipoli | 

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Taglines:

A father's journey in search of his sons

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for war violence including some disturbing images

Did You Know?

Trivia

Yilmaz Erdogan stated in a TV interview that it was 49 degrees Celsius when they were shooting the scenes in Australia.

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Goofs

Movie shows clearly that Connor enters Istanbul through the port of Haydarpasa (at the Asian side of the city). The boy drags him to the hotel which is supposed to be around Sultanahmet (European side). This is verified by the boy's comment "Sultanahmet, we go!" and with the camera shots several times downhill from the hotel with a clear view of Galata tower from the old city. The problem is; Connor follows the boy running from Haydarpasa to Sultanahmet in a couple of minutes, which is impossible due to the Bosphorus waterway between the Black sea and the Marmara sea passing through the city. (They should have taken a boat).

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Quotes

Connor: She wanted them buried in consecrated ground.
Lt-Col Cyril Hughes: How much blood do you need for it to be holy?

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Crazy Credits

The final credit is a congratulatory well done to the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club winning the NRL Premiership in 2014. Russell Crowe supports, and owns 37.5% of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, which is most likely the reason why the credit was included.

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Connections

Referenced in The Making of 'The Water Diviner' (2015)

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Soundtracks

Hey Onbesli
Performed by Cem Yilmaz
Annon. Traditional

User Reviews

Just a really terrific movie. Great job, Russell Crowe.

Not going to give it 10 out of 10 stars, because you should always save your 10. However, this movie is close to perfect. Very loosely based on what might have been a true story (a war record that mentioned that 'only one father came looking for his sons' at Gallipoli after the war). Really well acted. The war scenes conveyed some of the horror without being gratuitous in the violence or gore. There was some shown, but only briefly, and really just enough to set the scenes. The movie is well- paced, well edited and doesn't drag. The lead actors (including the young Turkish boy) were all perfectly cast. At the start of the 100th anniversary year of the Gallipoli landings, this is a story that was well worth telling. Great job, Russell Crowe.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Facebook [Turkey]

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English Turkish Greek Russian

Release Date:

26 December 2014 (Australia)

Also Known As:

The Water Diviner

Filming Locations:

Burra, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$22,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,220,335, 26 April 2015

Gross USA:

$4,196,641

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$38,176,317

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fear of God Films, Hopscotch Features, RatPac Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1