The Four Feathers (2002)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Shekhar Kapur

Writers (WGA):

A.E.W. Mason (novel)
Michael Schiffer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 September 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

Freedom. Country. Honor. Passion. To save his best friend, one man must risk everything he loves.

Plot:

A British officer resigns his post just before battle and subsequently receives four white feathers from his friends and fiancee as symbols of what they believe to be his cowardice.

Plot Keywords:

Cowardice | British | Sudan | North Africa | Church Of England

Cast

Wes Bentley	...	Jack Durrance
Mohamed Bouich	...	Sudanese Storyteller
Campbell Brown	...	Dervish Ansar
Daniel Caltagirone	...	Gustave
James Cosmo	...	Col. Sutch
Andy Coumbe	...	Colonel Other Regiment
Angela Douglas	...	Aunt Mary
Karim Doukkali	...	Egyptian Orderly
Lucy Gordon	...	Isabelle
Megan Hall	...	Millie
James Hillier	...	Drunken Corporal
Nick Holder	...	British Lion
Djimon Hounsou	...	Abou Fatma
Kate Hudson	...	Ethne Eustace
Alex Jennings	...	Colonel Hamilton

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense battle sequences, disturbing images, violence and some sensuality.

Runtime:

131 min | Canada:125 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 (original rating) | Malaysia:U | Australia:M (TV rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:12 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R13 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39145) (edited for re-rating) | USA:R (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Bledlow, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The major fight scene is the Battle of Abu Klea, which took place on January 17, 1885. A British Desert Column of approximately 1,100 troops fought a Mahdist force of over 12,000 dervishes. The scene depicted in the film, however, is a fictional version of the actual battle.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Trench is done scaring all the dogs away from the British bodies he takes off his hat. In the wide shot however his hat is on. Then when it returns to him his hat is off.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Title Card: By 1884 over a quarter of the earth's surface had been conquered by the British Army. There was no greater honor for a young man than to fight for Queen and Country. Those that refused the call to arms brought shame and humiliation on their friends and families...
Title Card: The Symbol of their disgrace was the white feather of cowardice...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants (2004)

As an entertaining adventure film, "The Four Feathers" stands firm…

The story is set in 1884 during the British Empire uprising…

Harry Faversham (Heath Ledger) is a young army officer from a distinguished military family who never wanted to join the army… He did it for his father… He resigns his commission on the eve of his regiment's departure for Sudan… Harry has already disgusted his strict father, a respected General in the Queen's Army, by declaring no interest in a soldier's life and now that he is about to be married to his beloved Ethne (Kate Hudson), he wants to settle down…

When his closest friends and fellow officers find out that he disgraced the regiment, they send him a box of feathers of cowardice… When Ethne sends him another feather, he then disappears to redeem himself, to face up to his fears, to discover himself, to win back his self-respect...

Shekhar Kapur's "The Four Feathers" is beautifully filmed and performed… The themes of love, honor, loyalty, friendship, trust, redemption, wisdom, true strength, and true courage are all there… They made the characters entirely plausible… But what truly lingers in the memory about it are the stunning sequences filmed in the Sudan and the splendid staging of several battles, showing the then standard British tactics employed in holding off attackers—the forming of squares, with riflemen deployed in standing, kneeling, firing, holding line, and keeping eye on the target… These exciting scenes of combat and carnage are truly impressive…