Article written by Samuel Burnett.
Spoiler Warning: As this film is now four years old, it is assumed that you have seen it already as the climax will be discussed in great detail. Also, there will be spoilers for Infinity War for the sake of a throwaway joke.
My Dad is not the kind of man to be moved emotionally by the goings on that take place on the big screen. In fact, quite recently, he earned the outrage of my baby sister, Maddy, by mockingly imitating Peter Parker’s dying words from Infinity War, “Mister Stark, I don’t feel so good. I don't know what's- I don't- I don't know what's happening! I don't wanna go, Mister Stark, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go... I'm sorry.”
This is usually accompanied by some melodramatic faux crying, complete with screwed up face and a theatric flailing of the arms.
Seriously, one of the most traumatic deaths in any superhero movie and, for my dear Dad, it is just an easy opportunity to get under Maddy’s skin. Now, I’m not the most emotional of chaps but even for me, that scene was hard to watch without choking up.
I bring this up, not just so I can call Maddy my baby sister but also, so you understand the importance of my next sentence.
I think that The Water Diviner made my Dad tear up slightly.
Now, my sense of fair play compels me to point out that, to this day, my Dad strongly denies this allegation and that, since it was a dark theatre, it is possible, if unlikely, that I made a mistake.
However, if there was a movie out there that could make that man a little misty eyed, it would be The Water Diviner because, boy, it hits you hard.
The Water Diviner, starring and directed by Russel Crowe in his directorial debut, takes place just after World War One has ended. Crowe’s character, Joshua, is a farmer and a water diviner, someone who finds underground sources of water for wells. His relationship with his wife is severely strained as all three of their sons were killed during the Gallipoli campaign and, in her grief, she holds him responsible.
While Russel Crowe’s acting was never in question, his skills as a director need to be emphasised. The two opening scenes of the film really work at introducing the audience to both the world and the characters.
The first scene features the ANZACs evacuation and is tense. While almost every Australian work of fiction about the Gallipoli almost exclusively focuses on the ANZAC forces charging over the top, The Water Diviner opens with the Turkish soldiers preparing to brave the firing guns of the Australians.
The Turks climb the trench ladders and charge out into No Man’s Land, running through a rain of bullets, smoke and shrapnel. However, once they reach the enemy trenches, the tension gives way to confusion.
The trenches are empty.
After examining one of the self-firing rifles, the leading officer, Major Hasan grins and says, “Godless bastards,” clearly impressed by the ruse.
As they watch the retreating ships, the Turkish forces cheer and, as I watched, something occurred to me. Every time the 25th of April rolls around, we hear a bunch of old men talk about the duty, the sacrifices and the mateship that took place at Gallipoli.
No-one ever mentions that the heroic ANZACS were invading another country and trying to take it from the people living there.
This simple acknowledgement that maybe the old legend has a few wrinkles in it establishes that this film won’t simply follow the formula of its predecessors.
The following scene showcases the tense relationship between Joshua and his wife and slowly teases the reveal that their boys are dead. After spending the day digging and building a well, Joshua’s wife tells him to read a fairy tale. Despite his protestations of weariness, she forces the issue and he goes to their room and starts reading. While he reads, the camera slowly pans around the room to reveal that Joshua is the only one there.
Their boys are dead.
After his wife commits suicide (probably), Joshua resolves to travel to Gallipoli and place his sons’ bodies with hers.
Once he arrives at ANZAC Cove, he is met by Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Hughes (played by Jai Courtney) who, after some persuading, agrees to help him find the bodies.
Now, this was the first movie that I had ever seen featuring Jai Courtney and, as I was unaware that I was supposed to automatically dismiss his performance as terrible. I thought he did a fine job in his role, balancing the solemn duties of recovering dead soldiers with the bizarre task of working alongside Major Hasan, a man that only a few years before, he had been trying to kill.
Together, they find the bodies of two of Joshua’s sons and put them to rest.
The scene is slow and melancholy. Bodies aren’t usually treated like this in war movies. While tragic, there is usually a sense of dignity afforded the dead.
Not so here.
Their bones are recovered from the soil, piece by piece, the middle son, Edward’s skull, featuring a bullet hole in the centre of the forehead, clearly fired at point blank range.
Hughes thinks that Edward was killed after the battle by a Turkish soldier but as Joshua glares at Hasan, Hughes adds that they didn’t take many prisoners themselves.
There is even a tense flashback with Hasan fleeing from ANZAC soldiers during a night raid, featuring a silhouetted Australian soldier mechanically firing into the downed Turkish soldiers.
But, they don’t find the body of his oldest son, Arthur. As Arthur would never have left his younger brothers, Joshua starts to believe that he might still be alive.
Despite the longshot odds, Joshua finds Arthur living in a small Turkish village.
Despite Joshua’s jubilation, Arthur doesn’t seem that happy to see his father.
Why didn’t he come home?
After some hesitation, Arthur reveals that, during their last battle, while the youngest brother, Henry was immediately killed, both Arthur and Edward were wounded and stranded in No Man’s Land.
Hours pass, and the silence is only broken by Edward’s unending pained moaning. While Arthur was only lightly wounded, it is clear that Edward has been mortally wounded and is going to die.
But it won’t be quick.
After enduring so much pain, Edward just wants it to end.
He asks his older brother to kill him.
The exchange between the two brothers is utterly heart wrenching.
“Artie,” Edward insists, “I can’t shoot myself. They won't let me into heaven.”
“You can’t ask me,” Arthur replies, crying, not because of his wounds.
“You have to do it,” Edward begs.
After refusing a second time, Arthur finally relents and wraps his fingers around the rifle and presses the barrel against his brother’s head.
He tells him that he loves him.
He tells him to close his eyes.
He pulls the trigger.
Arthur can’t come home because he killed his little brother.
This is the scene where I swear that I saw my father start to tear up.
The village is attacked by Greek soldiers and Arthur tells Joshua to leave him to die but his father replies that without him, he has nothing left to live for and, if necessary, he will stand and die with his son.
Not wanting to watch another loved one die, Arthur agrees and the two successfully flee.
While I have covered the opening and ending scenes, I have barely scratched the surface of this film.
The Water Diviner is an excellent movie taking the themes of fathers and sons and putting them against the backdrop of the first world war.
If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it and, if you already have, go and watch it again.
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