The Water Diviner

"To honour a promise. To find his sons. To make his peace."

2014 1h 52m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 1,368

WarDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 1919, Australian farmer Joshua Connor travels to Turkey to discover the fate of his three sons, reported missing in action. Holding on to hope, Joshua must travel across the war-torn landscape to find the truth and his own peace.

“To honour a promise. To find his sons. To make his peace.”

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Cast

Russell Crowe
Joshua Connor
Olga Kurylenko
Ayshe
Yılmaz Erdoğan
Major Hasan
Cem Yılmaz
Sgt. Jemal
Jai Courtney
Lt. Colonel Hughes
Ryan Corr
Arthur "Art" Connor
James Fraser
Edward Connor
Ben O'Toole
Henry Connor

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Russell Crowe
Writers: Andrew Knight, Andrew Anastasios, Brendan Tolley
Languages: Russian, Turkish, Greek, English
Countries: Australia, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 69% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Russian, Turkish, Greek, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Australia, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Russell Crowe, shot by Andrew Lesnie. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Hirschfelder. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Matt Villa shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Russell Crowe and Olga Kurylenko and Yılmaz Erdoğan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Russell Crowe directs. Andrew Lesnie behind the camera. David Hirschfelder scores. Matt Villa cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Australia, United States of America. Dialogue in Russian, Turkish, Greek, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 69% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 12 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Russian, Turkish, Greek, English.
4International production across 2 countries: Australia, United States of America.
5Directed by Russell Crowe, shot by Andrew Lesnie. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by David Hirschfelder. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Matt Villa shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Russell Crowe and Olga Kurylenko and Yılmaz Erdoğan carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "To honour a promise. To find his sons. To make his peace.".
10IMDB entry: tt3007512 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie
Original score: David Hirschfelder
Editing: Matt Villa
Production design: Chris Kennedy
Costume design: Tess Schofield
Makeup / hair: Wendy De Waal
VFX supervisor: David Booth
Sound: Peter Purcell
Stunt coordinator: Zev Eleftheriou
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Status: Released
Budget: $22,500,000
Box office: $15,520,023
Return: 69% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Water Diviner (2014)

Awards

AACTA Award for Best Costume Design
AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
AACTA Award for Best Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Russell Crowe

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2015-09-14
★ 6.5/10
A father with a hope to find his missing sons. A fictional narration with the backdrop of the World War I. Precisely the story begins after the end of the war, about a father who goes after look for his sons who were last seen on the battlefield of Gallipoli, Turkey. The rest is the mix of drama, war, romance, flashbacks, and whether his mission is accomplished or not is the climax that decide. Frankly, I was a little disappointed. The story was not based on the real, but looked like one. The point is it was a wonderful and inspiring theme, but direction was not convincing along with bad editing. If you look at who's that, it was a direction debut for Russell Crowe, who played the main character in the film as well. Some of the historical facts were wrong, especially showing the Greeks in the bad light was the negativity of the film. Visually the films do not give the impression of the pre 1920s where the story set in. Instead, it looks more of the late 40s or the early 50s. Since it was set after the war, most of the characters were in a guilt attitude. Can't say whole film was predictable, but the scenes were. The performances were the only things that tried to lift the movie, as well as the music and screenplay in some parts. This, book based movie should have been directed by any top director, not for the freshers to try-out their skills in direction field, because of the powerful stuffs like anti-war elements. One time watchable, but disappointment is ahead of you if you expect greatness from it. Anyway, it was Australia's top gross movie last year in Australia. 6.5/10

Production companies