The Water Diviner

The Water Diviner
Teaser poster
Directed by	Russell Crowe
Written by	Andrew Anastasios Andrew Knight
Produced by	Troy Lum Andrew Mason Keith Rodger
Starring	Russell Crowe Olga Kurylenko Jai Courtney Cem Yılmaz Yılmaz Erdoğan
Cinematography	Andrew Lesnie
Edited by	Matt Villa
Music by	David Hirschfelder
Production companies	Fear of God Films Hopscotch Features Seven Network RatPac Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Studios Entertainment One (Australia) Warner Bros. (USA)
Release dates	December 26, 2014 (2014-12-26) (Australia/Turkey) April 24, 2015 (2015-04-24) (United States)
Running time	111 minutes[1]
Countries	Australia Turkey United States
Languages	English Turkish
Budget	$22.5 million[2]
Box office	$30.4 million[2]

The Water Diviner (aka Last Hope) is a 2014 Australian historical fictional war drama film directed by and starring Russell Crowe in his directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Andrew Anastasios and Andrew Knight. The film is loosely based on the book of the same name, written by Andrew Anastasios and Dr Meaghan Wilson-Anastasios.

The film co-stars Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney, Cem Yılmaz, Yılmaz Erdoğan, and Jacqueline McKenzie. The Water Diviner had its world premiere at the State Theatre in Sydney, Australia on December 2, 2014.^[3] It opened in Australian and New Zealand cinemas on December 26, 2014. The film had a limited release in the United States on April 24, 2015.

The Water Diviner features a collaboration between Russell Crowe and Jacqueline McKenzie, reuniting them for the first time since 1992's Romper Stomper. It was the final film from Academy Award winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, who died in April 2015, a week after the film's U.S. release.

The film opens in 1919, just after World War I has ended. Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe), an Australian farmer and water diviner, has located ground water on his land and is digging a well. Joshua's three sons Arthur, Edward (James Fraser), and Henry (Ben O'Toole) served with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at the Battle of Gallipoli four years previously and are presumed dead. Joshua's wife, Eliza (Jacqueline McKenzie), unable to cope with her grief, commits suicide. Joshua resolves to bring his sons' bodies home and bury them with their mother.

Joshua travels to Turkey and stays in a hotel in Istanbul run by war-widowed Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko). When Joshua contacts the British consul, he is told that Gallipoli, where his sons were killed, is off limits. Joshua grows closer to Ayshe's son, Orhan (Dylan Georgiades). Ayshe warms to the Australian after learning why he is in Turkey. She suggests he bribe a local fisherman to take him to Gallipoli by boat. Joshua arrives in Gallipoli where he meets more resistance. The ANZACs are engaged in a mass burial detail and all civilians are banned. Major Hasan (Yılmaz Erdoğan), a Turkish officer assisting the ANZACs, persuades the ANZAC captain Lt-Col Cyril Hughes (Jai Courtney) to prioritize helping Joshua with his search.

Joshua sees in visions that Arthur was injured while returning to his trench. When Henry and Edward ran to his rescue, Henry was killed and Edward badly wounded. Joshua walks the battlefield and locates where they were gunned down. The soldiers uncover bodies, and Joshua sees skulls with bullet holes. An ANZAC sergeant implies that Major Hasan, who oversaw the defense in the area, ordered all casualties to be executed. Joshua attempts to assault Hasan but is stopped. Hasan recognizes Joshua's surname and tells him that Arthur may have been taken prisoner.

Joshua returns to Istanbul to learn which prison camp Arthur was transferred to, but is unsuccessful. The British Consul tells him he is being deported for having traveled to Gallipoli. Joshua returns to Ayshe's hotel. Her brother-in-law, Omer, is pressing her to marry him but she says she needs more time to decide. He loses patience and tells Orhan that his father was killed in the war. An angry Ayshe slaps him, and he attacks her; Joshua intervenes and Omer angrily retreats. Ayshe lashes out, blaming Joshua for making things worse and tells him to leave. As Joshua leaves the hotel, Omer and a few of his friends gang up on him, only to be stopped by Hasan's subordinate, Sergeant Jemal (Cem Yılmaz). Jemal takes Joshua to Hasan, who explains that the Greeks have invaded and they are going to defend their country as the British are not intervening. Joshua realizes they will be passing through the region where his son might be. He returns to the hotel to retrieve his bag; Ayshe apologizes for her earlier words. As the British come to escort Joshua back to Australia, he sneaks out and goes to Hasan.

Greek soldiers attack the train and only Jemal, Hasan and Joshua survive. Joshua saves Hasan as a Greek officer prepares to execute him and Jemal. They flee to a town where they spot a windmill, which Joshua saw in his recurring dream. There he finds Arthur alive but badly traumatized. Arthur reveals that at the end of the battle, Henry lay bleeding in agony for hours pleading for Arthur to end his suffering. Arthur reached for Edward's rifle and shot Henry. Believing he caused his brother's deaths, Arthur felt he could never return to his family.

Greeks attack the town, and the two men escape through the mountains. Wracked with guilt, Arthur refuses to follow his father, but relents when Joshua says that without his son, he has nowhere to go. They successfully evade the Greek army and return to Ayshe's hotel. The film ends with Ayshe preparing coffee, with more sugar than coffee, for Joshua—indicating she has fallen for him.

On June 18, 2013, it was announced that Crowe had signed to make his directorial debut with an historical drama film The Water Diviner from a screenplay written by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios. He would also star in the film.^[7] Producers would be Troy Lum, Andrew Mason and Keith Rodger and it was set to be shot in Australia and Turkey.^[4] On March 25, 2014, it was announced that Seven West Media and Seven Group Holdings would co-finance the film.^[8] On November 7, 2014, Warner Bros. acquired the US rights to the film.^[9]

Crowe portrays Joshua Connor, an Australian farmer. Olga Kurylenko was added to the cast on October 18, 2013 to co-star with Crowe.^[5] On 24 October, Jai Courtney was announced as having signed to star in The Water Diviner and another historical film, Unbroken. Courtney first filmed Unbroken and then moved to The Water Diviner, playing a soldier, Lt. Col. Cecil Hilton.^[6] Later, Turkish actors Cem Yılmaz and Yılmaz Erdoğan were also added to the cast, along with some Australian actors: Ryan Corr, Daniel Wyllie, Damon Herriman, Deniz Akdeniz, Steve Bastoni and Jacqueline McKenzie.^[10]

Principal photography began on December 2, 2013 in Australia.^[10]

On February 1, 2014, the first official still from the film was revealed.^[11] On April 28, the first footage from the film in a 7-minute featurette, narrated by Crowe, was revealed.^[12] The first official trailer for the film was released on September 30.^[13]

The film was released in Australia, New Zealand and Turkey on December 26, 2014, while it was released in Thailand on January 15, 2015.^[14] The film was initially to be released in the UK on January 23, 2015 but was moved to April 3.^[15] The film was released in IMAX, and general, theaters by Warner Bros. in the United States on April 24, 2015.^[9][16] Entertainment One and Universal Studios jointly released the film in Australia, with Universal solely releasing the film in Europe and Canada.^[8]

The film made its free-to-air television premiere on the Seven Network in Australia on April 20, 2015, a mere four months after its theatrical release in Australia. Seven is an investor in the film.^[17]

The Water Diviner has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 62%, based on 126 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's consensus reads, "The Water Diviner finds Russell Crowe on somewhat uncertain footing as a director, but he's rescued by a strong performance from himself in the leading role."^[18] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 50 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[19]

As of May 29, 2015, The Water Diviner has grossed $30.4 million worldwide.^[2] On January 5, 2015 it was named the highest grossing Australian-produced film of 2014, with a gross of $12,294,472.^[20] However, in the UK this film was stopped being screened in many cinemas after just one week of being released.

The film was received very favorably in Turkey at its debut and subsequent release. To date, the film has taken almost 14.3 million Turkish lira ($5.7 million), a handy addition to the $12.3 million it has taken in Australia.".^[21]

¹ Shared award with The Babadook

• The Water Diviner at IMDb
• The Water Diviner at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Water Diviner movie review and trailer at SBS Movies
• The Water Diviner at the World Socialist Web Site