MovieChat Forums > The Promise (2017) Discussion > Don't know what you are all whining abou...

Don't know what you are all whining about

posted 8 years ago by t-l-s
3 replies | jump to latest

Clearly the Turks have got annoyed over the trailer but if you what oversentimentalised junk about how noble the ottomans were and how evil most westerners were just go watch the utter tosh that is The Water Diviner - they don't mention that you committed a genocide once

[–] naples-884-346409 8 years ago

if you what oversentimentalised junk about how noble the ottomans were and how evil most westerners were just go watch the utter tosh that is The Water Diviner - they don't mention that you committed a genocide once

That's true.

It's not mentioned at all in that crappy movie.

It's a cinematic form of denial.

It's a good example for the Turkish cooptation of Hollywood:

Crowe's film got Turkish support.

[–] arsen_al90 8 years ago

Yeah I think that movie is more politically charged than this film for sure. Notice how The Water Diviner even was release on April 24, the memorial day for the Armenian genocide, as a taunt. Utterly disgusting and its pretty damn clear that Russell Crowe got a big fat sack of money from the Turks for having that particular angle on the movie.

[–] naples-884-346409 8 years ago

Notice how The Water Diviner even was release on April 24, the memorial day for the Armenian genocide, as a taunt. Utterly disgusting

I read about that, too !

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/21/what_armenian_genocide_%E2%80%9Cthe_water_diviner%E2%80%9D_russell_crowes_disgraceful_turkish_fantasy/

It's hard to believe that this was a 'coincidence'. It seemed like a well-thought out P.R. strategy by the Turkish government to influence the public discourse and memory.

But how did the Turks get Russell Crowe & the distributor to help them ?

That's still a little bit of a mystery.

Since "The Water Diviner" is a co-production with Turkey, they had influence.

And since Crowe could not have made his film without shooting in Turkey, they had bargaining power.

Crowe was probably only interested in 3 things:

1) To set up his debut feature at a reasonable price

2) Not to pi*s off anyone: The Turkish audience is bigger than the Armenian.

3) To sell his story in Turkey as a shared 'Australian-Turkish' tragedy of WWI.

It was a big success in Turkey: The second-best result after Australia

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=waterdiviner.htm

its pretty damn clear that Russell Crowe got a big fat sack of money from the Turks for having that particular angle on the movie.

Maybe he got a case full of money for accepting a few of the Turkish terms.

But since his film probably wouldn't have been made in the first place

without Turkish cooperation, they could demand a few things they'd like to see on screen.