The Four Feathers (2002 film)
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''The Four Feathers'' is a 2002
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Shekhar Kapur Shekhar Kulbhushan Kapur (born 6 December 1945) is an Indian filmmaker and actor. Born into the Anand-Sahni family, Kapur is the recipient of several accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a National Film Award, a National Board of Review Award a ...
and starring
Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
,
Wes Bentley Wesley Cook Bentley is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Ricky Fitts in '' American Beauty'' (1999), which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Supporting Actor; Seneca Crane in ''The Hunger Games'' (2012); Doyle i ...
,
Djimon Hounsou Djimon Gaston Hounsou (; ; born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in '' Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as ...
and
Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and businesswoman. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award, as well as nominations f ...
. Set during the British Army's Gordon Relief Expedition (late 1884 to early 1885) in
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, well after the formation of Mahdiyya, it tells the story of a young man accused of
cowardice Cowardice is a trait wherein excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger. It is the opposite of courage. As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge. One who succumbs to cowa ...
. This film, with altered plot events, is the latest in a long line of cinematic adaptations of the 1902 novel ''
The Four Feathers ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in t ...
'' by A.E.W. Mason. Other versions of the story have been set in the 1890s, with different battle events.


Plot

Harry Faversham, a young British officer completing his training, celebrates his engagement to Ethne Eustace, in a
ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...
with his fellow officers and father. When the Colonel announces that the regiment is being dispatched to Egyptian-ruled
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
to rescue the British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon, young Faversham has serious reservations about going to war, and resigns his commission. Harry's father
disown Disownment occurs when a parent renounces or no longer accepts a child as a family member, usually due to reprehensible actions leading to serious emotional consequences. Different from giving a child up for adoption, it is a social and interpers ...
s him. Perceiving his resignation as cowardice, three of his friends and his fiancée each give him a
white feather The white feather is a widely recognised propaganda symbol. It has, among other things, represented cowardice or conscientious pacifism; as in A. E. W. Mason's 1902 book, ''The Four Feathers''. In Britain during the First World War it was ofte ...
, the symbol of cowardice. Ethne breaks off their engagement. Harry learns that his best friend Jack and his former regiment have come under attack by rebels. Undertaking the perilous journey into the Sudan alone, he strikes up an alliance with Abou Fatma, a
mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...
. Harry disguises himself as an
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
. Harry and Abou Fatma follow a group of army workers he believes to be
spies Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations. Spies or The Spies may also refer to: * Spies (surname), a German surname * Spies (band), a jazz fusion band * Spies (song), "Spies" (song), a song by ...
of
self-proclaimed Self-proclaimed describes a legal title that is recognized by the declaring person but not necessarily by any recognized legal authority. It can be the status of a noble title or the status of a nation. The term is used informally for anyone declari ...
Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
,
Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Ahmad ( ar, محمد أحمد ابن عبد الله; 12 August 1844 – 22 June 1885) was a Nubian Sufi religious leader of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who, as a youth, studied Sunni Islam. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi, an ...
, and reach the garrison of Abu-Klea, which they realise has been overrun. Harry begs Abou Fatma to warn his friends that their destination is under siege and an attack is likely. The regiment stops its march to bury a group of British killed by the Mahdi. Abou Fatma is captured by Egyptian soldiers; believing he is an enemy scout, they bring him before the British officers. He tells the British that he has been sent by a British officer to warn them of the Mahdi's attack. He says that Muslims always bury their dead and that of the enemy, but that these bodies have been left to keep the British occupied. Faversham's comrades are worried, but ultimately they disregard Abou Fatma's warnings and he is flogged as a suspected spy. The British and Egyptian troops are not prepared for battle. The Mahdi rebels attack with spearmen, riflemen and cavalry, while the British forces form a defensive square. Firing volley after volley, the British repel the initial Mahdi assault just as they spot British cavalry reinforcements in their distinctive red uniforms. A force of skirmishers is sent to pursue the retreating Sudanese, but they are ambushed by Mahdi rebels and forced to fight on foot. Soon the British discover that the cavalry who they thought were reinforcements are Sudanese disguised in British uniforms. Among them is Faversham. The British square reorganises and fires a few volleys, in the process killing several skirmishers who have not yet returned to the square, including Edward Castleton, who had earlier given Harry a feather. Jack attempts to rescue Castleton in the process but is blinded when his rifle misfires. The British issue an order for retreat. Harry finds Jack during the battle and protects him after he was blinded. Harry finds letters from Ethne to Jack, but cares for his friend without identifying himself. Never knowing his rescuer, Jack is transported to England. He asks Ethne to marry him, but she does not answer and discusses it with Harry's father. Tom, another officer, arrives to tell Jack that Harry had visited him in Sudan. During the encounter, Harry confirms that he had sent Abou to alert the British of the Mahdi attack, and is bitter that his friends ignored the warning. Abou tells Harry that he believes Trench lives on in the notorious Mahdi prison of Omdurman. Upon learning this, Harry says he is determined to rescue him. Abou advises Harry against this venture, which is all but certain to lead to his death. Undeterred, Harry allows himself to be captured and imprisoned at Omdurman. In the prison, Harry finds Trench. They suffer greatly as they are starved and subjected to hard labor. After a failed escape attempt, they concede the hopelessness of their situation. Later Abou rescues Harry and Trench by giving them a poison to fake their deaths. A suspicious guard follows the removal of the bodies, along with three other guards. Harry and Abou kill the four. Abou returns to the desert, and Harry escorts Trench back to Britain. Harry is acknowledged by his father and Ethne reclaims her feather, as Harry has proven his bravery. She has become engaged to Jack. Jack learns that Harry was his rescuer when he happens to touch his face; he releases Ethne from their engagement. After a ceremony of remembrance, Harry and Ethne hold hands and are engaged again.


Cast

*
Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
as Harry Faversham *
Wes Bentley Wesley Cook Bentley is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Ricky Fitts in '' American Beauty'' (1999), which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Supporting Actor; Seneca Crane in ''The Hunger Games'' (2012); Doyle i ...
as Jack Durrance *
Djimon Hounsou Djimon Gaston Hounsou (; ; born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in '' Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as ...
as Abou Fatma *
Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and businesswoman. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award, as well as nominations f ...
as Ethne Eustace *
Rupert Penry-Jones Rupert William Penry-Jones (born 22 September 1970) is a British actor, known for his performances as Adam Carter in '' Spooks'', Clive Reader in ''Silk'', DI Joseph Chandler in ''Whitechapel'', and Mr Quinlan in the American horror series ''The ...
as Tom Willoughby *
Kris Marshall Kristopher Marshall (born 11 April 1973) is an English actor, starring in films, television and on stage for more than 20 years. He has played Nick Harper in ''My Family'', Colin Frissell in the 2003 film ''Love Actually'', Gratiano in ''The Me ...
as Edward Castleton *
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...
as William Trench *
Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...
as Colonel Hamilton *
James Cosmo James Ronald Gordon Copeland , known professionally as James Cosmo (b. 1947), is a Scottish film and television actor known for his appearances in films including ''Highlander'', ''Braveheart'', '' Trainspotting'', ''Jagame Thandhiram'', ''Tro ...
as Colonel Sutch *
Angela Douglas Angela Douglas (born 29 October 1940), born Angela McDonagh, is an English actress. Early life Douglas was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. Career Douglas started acting as a teenager, joining the Worthing, West Sussex repertory comp ...
as Aunt Mary *
Tim Pigott-Smith Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he wo ...
as General Faversham * Lucy Gordon as Isabelle *
James Hillier James Hillier, (August 22, 1915 – January 15, 2007) was a Canadian-American scientist and inventor who designed and built, with Albert Prebus, the first successful high-resolution electron microscope in North America in 1938. Biography B ...
as Drunken Corporal


Production

Three supporting artists were injured in an accident on set during filming in Greenwich.


Release

The film opened in North American cinemas on 20 September 2002 and grossed $6,857,879 in its opening weekend, making number 5 at the US box office. ''The Four Feathers'' ended up making $29.8 million worldwide, failing to bring back its $35 million budget. In 2003, it was issued as a Special Collector's edition on DVD.


Reception

''The Four Feathers'' received mixed reviews from critics. On the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds a 42% approval rating, based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's consensus reads, "Though beautiful to look at, ''The Four Feathers'' lacks epic excitement and suffers from an ambivalent viewpoint." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 49 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


See also

* ''
The Four Feathers ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in t ...
'' book (1902) * ''
The Four Feathers ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in t ...
'' (1939) * ''
Storm Over the Nile ''Storm Over the Nile'' is a 1955 British adventure film adaptation of the 1902 novel ''The Four Feathers'', directed by Terence Young and Zoltan Korda. The film not only extensively used footage of the action scenes from the 1939 film versi ...
'' (1955) * ''
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
'', a 1966 film dealing with the events leading up to General Gordon's death *
Highclere Castle Highclere Castle is a Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The estate is in Highclere in Hampshire, England, about south of Newbury, B ...


Footnotes


References


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Four Feathers (2002 Film), The Films based on The Four Feathers 2002 films 2000s action drama films 2000s adventure films 2000s historical romance films 2002 romantic drama films 2000s war drama films American historical romance films American war drama films British action drama films British historical romance films British romantic drama films British war drama films Films about friendship Films scored by James Horner Films directed by Shekhar Kapur Films set in the 1880s Films shot in Morocco Films with screenplays by Hossein Amini Films with screenplays by Bruce Joel Rubin Miramax films Paramount Pictures films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s British films Films about the British Army