UNLIMITED STREAMING
WITH PRIME VIDEO
TRY 30-DAY TRIAL
Home > Adventure >

The Four Feathers

The Four Feathers (2002)

September. 20,2002
|
6.5
|
PG-13
| Adventure Drama Action Romance

A young British officer resigns his post when he learns of his regiment's plan to ship out to the Sudan for the conflict with the Mahdi. His friends and fiancée send him four white feathers as symbols of what they view as his cowardice. To redeem his honor, he disguises himself as an Arab and secretly saves their lives.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Freaktana
2002/09/20

A Major Disappointment

More
Nayan Gough
2002/09/21

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

More
Kien Navarro
2002/09/22

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

More
Mandeep Tyson
2002/09/23

The acting in this movie is really good.

More
sindiana-28257
2002/09/24

The most just rating is a comparison to previous iterations, foremost on my mind the book, and by this metric the film performs poorly.I don't find fault with the actors, so much as the writers, and to a lessor extent the director.Thw film opens with a parallelism between sport and war, cutting down on the backstory of the main character and his military lineage and the expectations of his father, to build a sense of camaraderie, achieving one admirably, but no doubt erring somewhat in the sacrifice of the proper measure of Victorian propriety. I thought it frankly influenced by the Gilbert and Sullivan scene of Chariots of Fire, which though also an Empire era film, takes place in a different time period.And personally, I think Kate Hudson is ravishing here.Where the film really starts to fall apart, is when they leave England. Quite frankly, this film is in a higher taxon than mere political correctness. It is a white guilt film, joining such others like the recent Green Hornet and Lone Ranger films, where a perfectly good hero is ruined and made to play second fiddle to whatever minority character can be found, whether or not that character had really been done any injustice.The good whites must establish their bona fides by preventing their evil brethren from hurting or impugning the other races, it seems. The bad ones, well, we don't care what happens to them, do we?The photography is not exactly Lawrence of Arabia but pretty uninspired. One scene has the Mahdi's forces rise up from their hiding places underneath the sand, where they would have been cooking quite well. I saw this same scene more or less in the Costner Robin Hood film, in temperate England where it made more sense.There are many continuity errors.The main character seems to bumble from one scene to another, saved each time by his more heavily pigmented and thus more capable friend. Not an Arab, as in the book, but a black to more properly service the feelings of white guilt. He is tied to a post and whipped like a slave by an evil white, in one seemingly meant to be cathartic scene.Our new main character, spends a lot of time shirtless to show off his black skin and impressive muscles, but let us not forget this is an equatorial sun, and no man in his right mind would be caught shirtless.Of course, all this is really forgetting that it was the Arabs who were the slavers and the British who fought them (under Christain influence, no less!) to destroy the slave trade, as much as was practical, for one can still find slaves today in many parts of the world.The one likable British soldier, with one or two good scenes, is the blind man, a character performed admirably. But, alas, they leave out the small homage to the blind traveler (a real life character who traveled thousands of miles, sightlessly, on his own) that was in the much superior book.If one wants to see a movie version, the '39 film is a good adaptation.

More
tieman64
2002/09/25

This is a review of "Storm over the Nile" (1955), "Khartoum" (1966) and "The Four Feathers" (2002), three films based on British actions during the Mahdist War (1881-1899).The 19th century saw colonial powers scrambling across Africa. As the British Empire expanded from Southern Africa to the Mediterranean, the Ottomans expanded from Turkey to Northern Africa and the French from West Africa to the Red Sea. All three would converge upon Egypt, which would continually shift hands between the three Empires.Britain eventually emerged victorious, becoming defacto ruler of Egypt in 1882. Egypt would henceforth become a base for further British expansion southward into Sudan. The Sudanese would attempt to fend off these advances. They'd rally behind Muhammad Ahmad, an Islamic messianic or "Mahdist" figure. Muhammad Ahmad was denounced by Sudanese elites, but embraced as a revolutionary leader by marginalised Nilotic tribes.Experts at using divide-and-rule tactics, the British divided Sudan into loosely demarcated northern and southern zones. The north became Muslim and Arab dominated and was integrated with the economic networks along the Nile. The south, steeped in poverty, was treated as an "African zone". A cocktail of Muslim, Christian and tribal groups, the south Sudanese were indoctrinated into thinking themselves culturally/biologically distinct and inferior. Promising independence and even salvation (he claimed to be paving the way for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ), Muhammad Ahmad set out to overturn this. Like the countless Christian messianic figures who sprung up as a result of Roman occupation, and a precursor to contemporary Islamic militants, he was the inevitable product of naked Imperialism.The city of Khartoum straddled northern and southern Sudan. To the North, the British suppressed the slave trade, heavily invested in social, educational and health services, and essentially nurtured a "liberalised" form of Islam. As colonialism recruitment policies favoured educated Arabs, a new socio-economic class was created so as to offer a bulwark against Mahdism and secular nationalism. An ideological bulwark, however, is no match for guns.In 1884, after a three month siege, Khartoum fell to the Mahdists, who stormed the city and executed British governor-general Charles Gordon. The Empire reacted swiftly. British forces under Herbert Kitchener rolled in and slaughtered tens of thousands of Sudanese. By 1898, most Mahdists were crushed. Sudan henceforth became subject to joint Anglo-Egyptian governance.Unsurprisingly, the British set out to exacerbate regional, religious and racial divisions amongst the Sudanese. In 1922, in what became known as the "Southern Policy", the Empire declared that southern Sudan would be considered a "Closed District". Islamic proselytisers were banned, Arabic languages and clothing were discouraged, and Christian missionaries were brought in to convert southerners. Meanwhile, southern Arab merchants were relocated to the north and interactions between the peoples of the north and the south were forbidden. Such segregationist policies were designed to keep the south economically backward and foster divisiveness.Today, little has changed in Sudan. Artificially carved out of a myriad of peoples, with more than 400 ethnic and linguistic groups lumped together within its borders, the country remains ravaged by the divide-and-rule tactics of modern neo-Imperialists. Milking the nation's oil fields and precious metals, the United States, and recently China, have today become expert at funding and arming militias and bloody regimes in both the north and south.Zoltan Korda would produce and co-direct "Storm Over the Nile" in 1955, a film based on "The Four Feathers", a 1902 novel by Alfred Mason. The plot? Refusing to sail with his regiment to the Sudan, Harry Faversham (Anthony Steel), the cowardly scion of a military family, overcomes his disgrace by travelling to Africa. Here he helps his regiment defeat Sudanese forces. As with many Imperialist adventures, the film glorifies queen and country, assumes the rightness of British rule, romanticises colonialism and posits loyalty and responsibility to the ruling classes as the highest ideal. Though stiff and dull in places, the film boasts several impressive action sequences, filmed in expansive Cinemascope.The 1950s/60s saw the release of numerous films which attempted to rejuvenate British nationalism and which were determined to white-wash the realities of colonialism ("Zulu", "North West Frontier", "Khartoum", "55 Days at Peking", "The Black Tent" etc). Supercharged by the civil rights and independence movements of the 1950s-60s, such perspectives were slowly contested ("Gandhi", "Guns at Batasi", "Burn!", "The Man Who Would Be King", "Passage to India" etc), eventually giving rise to the latest adaptation of "The Four Feathers", a 2002 film which was so politically correct as to be ridiculous.Directed by Shekhar Kapur, "The Four Feathers" (2002) tells virtually the same story as "Storm over the Nile". Here actor Heath Ledger plays Harry Faversham, who is no longer a "coward" but a man of conscience who has "ethical objections to colonialism". Harry travels to Sudan, where he befriends and fights alongside Africans and where he teaches us to question nationalism, exceptionalism and pride. Dull and conventionally shot, the film's attempts at "rectifying" its source material are mostly hokey. In some ways it is even more racist than Korda's film, Africans reduced to props, whole cultures reduced to ridiculous musical choices and second-hand "exotic" signifiers.Released in 1966, and directed by Basil Dearden, "Khartoum" stars Charlton Heston as Charles Gordon, a British General sent to Sudan to battle Muhammad Ahmad (Lawrence Olivier). Gordon valiantly defends a fortress in Kartoum, but is eventually overrun.By having its heroes outnumbered, like cowboys surrounded by hordes of manic Indians, "Khartoum" manoeuvres its audience into siding with colonialists. Elsewhere it uses Gordon's demise to criticise political leaders who refuse to rally behind valiant troops. Heston, who spent the decade battling hordes of on-screen "savages", is himself a caricature of British bravery, whilst Ahmad never rises above the level of black-faced bogeyman. Still, "Kartoum" has its merits. Impeccably shot, tense, filled with impressive battles and awesome landscapes, it remains the best of a certain brand of 1950s/60s, pro-Imperialist adventure.5/10 - Worth one viewing.

More
salesmanager
2002/09/26

Inspite of some of the review with due respect .. i still think strongly that this majestic movie is not given the proper recognition as they should have.. Heath ledger and Wes Bentley truly carry out their roles explicitly done , i like the part where ledger was being told by Ehtne that he should let go the love ... the reaction of Heath was just so precious... in shock and yet could not endure the pain of what he just heard.. the war scenes in the dessert and the capturing of the lead actors .. and the black guy who helped heath in this journey was just superbly supported and as well as well executed ... all the while i thought this was a new original epic movie until i found out it was a remake ... but looking back i would not trade this version of any other version... watch it and you will love it for life...

More
zardoz-13
2002/09/27

British author A.W.E. Mason, sometimes referred to as the poor man's Rudyard Kipling, would rollover in his grave if he saw what a shambles Indian-born (as in India) director Shekhar Kapur of "Elizabeth" has made of his classic war novel about camaraderie, cowardice, and second chances. For the record, Hollywood produced "The Four Feathers" for the first time in 1915 and the second time in 1921. American director Merian C. Cooper of "King Kong" fame came along and made it the third time in 1929 with Fay Wray and Richard Arlen in 1929, and British director Zoltan Korda did the best known version in color in 1939, (the fourth time if you're counting) with Ralph Richardson. Weirdly enough, Korda remade "The Four Feathers" under a different title in 1955 called "Storm Over the Nile" with Anthony Steel, James Robertson Justice, Ian Carmichael, Ronald Lewis, Michael Hordern. In 1977, Don Sharp made the fifth version as an NBC-TV television movie with Beau Bridges, Robert Powell, Simon Ward, and Jane Seymour. Since then this durable adventure about the imperial British Army in African has emerged as a perennial favorite with filmmakers. So far they have remade it seven times, six times on screen and once for television. As the seventh remake, Kapur's version of "The Four Feathers" seems more plucked than profound, more improbable than possible, and more jingoistically old-fashioned than fashionable. Watch the Charlton Heston blockbuster "Khartoum" (1966) for an historical frame of reference.Indeed, "Horse Feathers" might have been a title more befitting this sprawling but shallow spectacle about the British Empire in its heyday. Nevertheless, "The Four Feathers" looks pictorially gorgeous on the big-screen with its grand-scale battles and its savage Moroccan scenery. Unfortunately, this swashbuckling costumer lacks the guts of its glorious predecessors. Wishy-washy characters, preposterous plotting, and Kapur's uneven storytelling plucks this rendition of "The Four Feathers." Essentially, "The Four Feathers" chronicles the rise, fall, and redemption of Victorian-Era British Army officer Harry Faversham (Australian heartthrob Heath Ledger of "Monster's Ball"), who resigns his commission when he learns the Queen Mum plans to ship the Royal Cumbrian Regiment off to the Sudan to combat revolting Arab tribesmen. "I sometimes wonder," Faversham comments in half-hearted protest, "what a godforsaken desert in the middle of nowhere has to do with her majesty the queen.Not only does Faversham's decision infuriate his dad, a proud British Army General Faversham (Tim Pigott-Smith of "Gangs of New York") who disowns him, but it also galls Harry's longtime comrades-at-arms: William Trench (Michael Sheen of "Blood Diamond"), Tom Willoughby (Rupert Penry-Jones of "Charlotte Gray") and Edward Castelton (Kris Marshall of "Love Actually"), and his distraught fiancée Ethne (Kate Hudson of "Almost Famous"). Each sends him a white feather, a symbol of cowardice in English circles. Only Harry's closest friend Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley of "American Beauty") refuses to give him a feather. Anyway, the British Army lands in the Sudan, while Harry wallows in misery. When he learns his pals have gotten themselves captured, our psychic protagonist storms off to save them, masquerading as an unconvincing "Lone Ranger/Rambo" nomad. During his journey of hardship, Harry befriends About Fatma (scene-stealing Djimon Hounsou of "Gladiator"), a destiny-bound, "Last of the Mohicans" style, native mercenary who becomes his guide and sidekick.Scenarist Michael Schiffer of "The Peacemaker" and Hossein Amimi of "Jude" have trivialized this timeless tale of testosterone. First, they have changed Mason's hero's name from Faversham to Feversham. Second, they refuse to explain why our hero chickens out. Is he a coward? Or an idealist? Basically, "The Four Feathers" recycles every cliché you have ever seen in a cavalry versus the Indians western, with Redcoats replacing bluecoats and Islamics instead of Apaches. Actually, the British wore grey coats, not redcoats. If you want to see the best version of "The Four Feathers," catch the 1939 Technicolor version and skip this harmless but half-baked hokum.

More