Warner Bros. Pictures
After the monkey business of Noah (and, to be fair, which had some terrific acting and imagery and interesting ideas along with that healthy dose of monkey business), I was anxious for the Blu-ray release of The Water Diviner, Russell Crowe’s directorial debut.
I like Crowe’s films. Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, 3:10 To Yuma, Gladiator … there’s some good stuff there. Noah, however, left me flat despite the intriguing manner in which director Darren Aronofsky injected such free form.
With so many calling out Noah as a golden turkey, I was ready and willing to immerse myself in Crowe’s latest effort. I was interested in seeing those first-time director’s chaps.
Guess what? It didn’t disappoint.
Shortly after World War I concludes, farmer Joshua Conner (Crowe) heads off to discover the fates of his three sons who enlisted in the conflict and were last known to have fought in the Battle of Gallipoli. It’s unclear what Conner will find — his sons may (or may not) be dead. With no word of them (and with Conner’s wife having committed suicide not knowing the boys’ fates) the beleaguered Aussie heads to Istanbul to see if he can come up with answers.
Even if you don’t know anything about the Battle Of Gallipoli, the film will grab your attention whether because of the actors or the story. And that’s testament to Crowe and his attention to every detail that goes into the filmmaking process. He’s proven himself to be a stickler in front of the camera and it obviously comes across when he’s behind it. Not so surprisingly, you’d be hard pressed to surmise this is his directorial debut.
And the benefit of some terrific acting performances certainly aid in his efforts. Yilmaz Erdogan and Cem Yilmaz (as Major Hasan and Sgt. Jemal, respectively) are two actors I’d never heard of previously. But their roles are flawlessly performed. Working with professionals of their caliber could do nothing but aid Crowe in his dual roles. When you have characters who are this richly fleshed out, it certainly makes for a much more enjoyable film.
“Three things: detail … collaboration … and you have to be prepared to be relentless …” — Russell Crowe tweet
The scope of the story is tailor made for the big screen and, really, that’s the place it should be viewed. Lacking that, the Blu-ray treatment is the next best thing, especially if you have an over-sized screen at home. You’ll get lost in it.
Forget your thoughts on Noah if you happened to bear witness and were tainted by it. If you’ve enjoyed Crowe in any of the films mentioned above, you’ll enjoy The Water Diviner. And you’ll appreciate the dose of extras, too.
The Water Diviner Blu-ray clocks in at 111 minutes in length at 1080p High Definition, 16 x 9, 2:4:1, DTS-HD Audio. The images, especially the battle scenes and panoramic views, can be stark, bleak … but that added to the tale for me. The Blu-ray gives the washed out desert settings scope. Colors in the bazaars and temples pop. And, of course, there are English and Spanish subtitles. Two spiffy added features are attached to the Blu-ray: “The Making Of The Water Diviner” (an in-depth look at the making of the film) and “The Battle Of Gallipoli” which gives the viewer a primer on that conflict from 100 years ago. Both are nice little featurette asides.
The Water Diviner was graciously made available for review to HOTCHKA from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
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