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Russell Crowe discusses WWI and being a first-time director By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Apr. 16, 2015 @ 11:17 am By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Apr. 16, 2015 @ 11:17 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Russell Crowe walked briskly through the lobby of the Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C., dressed to the nines: black suit, tie, a power-business look. But 10 minutes later, after his photo shoot, he plopped down on a hotel room couch wearing a comfy sweat suit, ordered a coffee, lit a cigarette and, speaking softly in his familiar low rumble, gave a history lesson on the Battle of Gallipoli, the horrific WWI campaign that serves as the backdrop of his new film “The Water Diviner.” The fight involved Australian and New Zealand troops going up against Turks on a small peninsula in Western Turkey. The film tells a fictionalized story based on real events, about an Australian farmer whose three sons went off to fight in 1915, but never returned, and who sets out to find them. Talk soon turned around to the fact that Russell was not only playing the farmer, Joshua Connor, he was also directing his first feature film. Q: How did this film come to you? A: I was in the middle of the busiest year of my professional life. I’d expressed interest in five projects, assuming that those five projects would cannibalize themselves. You know, you say, “Oh, I like these three,” then I end up doing one. But somehow the producers of these projects managed to work it out. So I went from “Man of Steel” to “Broken City” to “Les Miserables,” to “Noah,” to “Winter’s Tale” all in about a 16-month period. In the middle of that, I got separated [from my wife]. So there you go! There’s a little complication for you. So I was dealing with that and with my kids, and I run a professional rugby league team in Australia. I also have a cattle farm. I’ve got a very complicated life (laughs). In the middle of all that came this script, and I had a very strong visceral response and connection to it from the first time I read it. Q: Did you know right away you wanted to direct it? A: Yeah. I found this voice coming out of me saying you must take responsibility for this film. I have to take responsibility for this story. I understand this story. Nobody else can do it the way I can do it. I said I’m very interested, but I’m only interested if it’s my responsibility in total. And we went from there. I’ve had the intellectual idea to direct for a long time. Over the years I’ve directed about 30 different video clips for bands and three full-length documentaries. You need a remarkable amount of energy and stamina to direct a feature film. It’s not like a six- or 10- or 20-week engagement as an actor. This has been going on for three years. Q: So while you’re out there directing everyone, and being responsible for every facet of the film, and at the same time starring in it, who is watching the back of Russell Crowe, the actor? A: I know what’s good and what’s not, man. There’s a lot going on in my head [as director], but when I look at the monitor I know if I’ve connected or not. Of course sometimes I’ll be at the monitor going, “Oh, you idiot!” And then I’ll go back and do another take. (laughs) Q: Some of the best and most emotional stuff in the film has to do with the relationship between the Turkish military man Major Hasan and your character Joshua Connor. Were they real people? A: Major Hasan, who is played by Yilmaz Erdogan, is based on a number of different Turkish officers, but mainly on a guy called Zeki Bey. That character comes from a lot of different writings. Joshua is a character created by the script writers to meet a quote that they came across in a book by the Australian war historian C.W. Bean. There’s a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Hughes, who’s played in the film by Jai Courtney. Hughes was on the Gallipoli battlefields four years after the fighting, finding and tagging bones. He said, “One old chap managed to get here from Australia today, looking for his son’s grave.” That was the quote that exploded in the writer’s mind. He thought, who IS this guy? So he and his writing partner did two years of research, trying to track down this man, and they ended up reverse-engineering a narrative to match the line. Q: Is it true that for some of the scenes in Australia, you’re riding your own horse? A: I did use one of my horses. I do a little bit of raising horses. This particular horse was a champion cutting horse. Then she came to live with me, and she’s had two foals. With movie horses, they tend to have maybe three gears. But if you really want to have a ride, you want the four and five [gears]. I thought we could get some more dynamic stuff having a horse with that power. I discussed it with the film’s horse master. He came up to the farm and spent some time working with her, and he said, “Absolutely. This is going to be fantastic.” It was cool. Her name is Honey, and she’s back on the farm, and she’s a movie star. Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now. By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Apr. 16, 2015 @ 11:17 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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