I am aware that I am way over my league (predisposedly, I focused on how the effects, music and dialogues were recorded and I must say the first word that came to my mind was "natural" which for me is one of the biggest praises possible), when I pull up my sleeves to write my opinions about a movie and doing it in English. But the story here has more angles to it than merely evaluating or criticizing a relatively more technological form of the fine arts.
It starts about 3 years ago in Turkey when a fine educated single lady meets a fine young tasteful lady who happens to visit a country not quite similar and not quite close to hers. They somehow "click" and the educated lady introduces the travelling kebab taster to her son's family. The second level "click" paves the path to an occasional but frank chat friendship. As all chat buddies do, one of the chatters proposes that the other meets her friends in Istanbul.
The two extremely good looking couples (the son and the friends of friend) have a lovely evening together and one of the inevitable results of the fine evening is that the son and his wife decide they HAVE TO see the movie named "The Water Diviner". All of these loosely connected events take place with considerable time lapses and from over 15 000 kilometers.
The movie is one of the most realistically filmed about the state and consequences of war. It is about a father looking for his sons who never returned from the Turkish front during WW1. If you disregard the typical way-too-many coincidences that is probably essential to make a movie interesting for millions from all ages; the plain and direct exposure to the feelings of the people at war and people with loved ones at war, was fascinating.
The movie takes you close enough to the traumas of the people at war so you can relate (and cry if you are a bit sentimental especially toward kids), but not too close so that you are not overwhelmed with terror.
You realize how stupid and human it is to fight people you do not know, at places you have never been to before (I mean this for both sides as it wasn't just the natives of Canakkale who was at the defence) for reasons you don't totally understand. You also see how silly and human it is to connect to people whom you have every reason to hate or in best case have no common interests or past whatsoever.
It looks like it is and has always been in our hands as people to choose between building friendship bridges over oceans and mountains that are thousands of kilometers apart or kill and get killed as hard as we can. The Anzacs and us seem to have done it in the past and for my part I am happy that we are still doing well at only the bridges part of the story.
Best of days to you all,
Cihan
The movie takes you close enough to the traumas of the people at war so you can relate (and cry if you are a bit sentimental especially toward kids), but not too close so that you are not overwhelmed with terror.
You realize how stupid and human it is to fight people you do not know, at places you have never been to before (I mean this for both sides as it wasn't just the natives of Canakkale who was at the defence) for reasons you don't totally understand. You also see how silly and human it is to connect to people whom you have every reason to hate or in best case have no common interests or past whatsoever.
It looks like it is and has always been in our hands as people to choose between building friendship bridges over oceans and mountains that are thousands of kilometers apart or kill and get killed as hard as we can. The Anzacs and us seem to have done it in the past and for my part I am happy that we are still doing well at only the bridges part of the story.
Best of days to you all,
Cihan
