SYDNEY: Leading Australian World War I historian, Dr. Peter Stanley, has openly referred to Russell Crowe’s latest movie, The Water Diviner as a “fundamentally silly film”.
Stanley, the former head of Historical Research and Principal Historian at the Australian War Memorial, has written an extensive account on the historical inaccuracies of this movie, which claims to be “inspired by true events”.
The movie, which has been released to coincide with the centenary of ANZAC Day, tells the story of an Australian father who visits Gallipoli after the war in search of his dead son.
Stanley criticises The Water Diviner on the basis of the “fundamental lack of credibility”.
He says: “...just about everything else in The Water Diviner is made up and not very convincingly either....This is basically a silly film, full of impossibilities, and isn’t worth the attention it’s getting," Stanley writes.
He adds: “There isn’t any reference to the massacres of Armenians that were such an important part of the last years of the Ottoman Empire. That’s true, but it seems to me that the Armenian agony simply has no relevance to the film’s plot, risible though the plot is."
Under the guise of World War I, the Ottoman Turkish government implemented and carried out the first genocide of the 20th century against its Armenian population, as well as Greeks and Assyrians. Turkey continues to run an international campaign of denial.
Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Vache Kahramanian, remarked: “It is not unsurprising that Turkey is heavily promoting this film, which aim to portray the Turk as a victim, even though one of the greatest crimes against humanity was committed against its Armenian subjects from 1915 to 1923.”
The Water Diviner, already out in Australian cinemas, is scheduled to premiere in the United States on the Centenary anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the 24th of April, 2015.
Genocide Historian, Dr. Panayiotis Diamadis has also critiqued the movie in a column titled "‘Satan’s Army’: The dark side of The Water Diviner". Click here to read.
Dr. Stanley's critique is available by clicking here.
(NOTE: This story was updated due to a misunderstanding. Dr. Stanley clarified to ANC Australia that he had not criticised Water Diviner for not mentioning the Armenian Genocide, rather had said the Armenian Genocide wasn't relevant to the film's plot - a plot he called "risible".)
