movie's 411
{may 27, 2003}
>> THE FOUR FEATHERS Starring: Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Kate Hudson, and more... harry grew up under the shadow of his dad who was a well-known officer in the army. growing up, he was befriended with jack durrance who was a fine soldier and always by harry's side like a brother besides the three other boys that they always hangout with. when harry decided to be engaged with his longtime girlfriend, ethne, within a few days he found out that he was among the list to go to sudan. overnight, he decided that he doesn't want to go and fight for his country because he had a great fear within him and he also realized that he never wanted to be in the army in the first place. when his friends find out, the three other boys in the gank sent him the white feathers thinking that he resigned because he was a coward. on top of that, when he told ethne about his plan, ethne insisted that harry should use their recent engagement as the main recent he resigned. harry refused and tried to pour his thoughts to her, but surprisingly, she was the one who sent the fourth feather. his dad refused to take him as his son anymore, and harry was so depressed finding out that everyone turn their heads against him, except for jack who didn't give him the feather, in fact, defense him to accept his resignation. after awhile regretting what he did harry decided to go to sudan by himself, to return the feathers to his friends and help them. in sudan, harry met abou fatma who became his loyal companion in his journey and helped him with all his heart. harry succeeded to help his friends although he almost lost his life doing it. while helping his best friend, jack -- who was suffering from the blindness from the fight in the war, harry found out that after he was out of the picture, jack had started a relationship with ethne. harry was hurt but he let it go. jack couldn't find out who helped him in the battle, although he managed to get the feel of harry's face. so at the end.. jack went home, tried to marry ethne. harry came back and all his friends took back all the feathers they have given to him, including ethne. harry came back as a hero in the eyes of his friends, and he was even accepted wide-handedly by his dad. the movie's genre is a drama. and as many other drama movie, it has a good story line and a touchy ending. the whole time i was watching this movie, i was very interested with the whole setting and the change in heath ledger when he became a prisoner and had to beg for food. he was so thin with long beard that you couldn't recognize him any longer. but at the end, i don't feel that "uumph" feeling after watching the movie. even wes bentley's performance as jack was so disappointing. you wouldn't believe that it was the same person who acted brilliantly in american beauty (btw, his character in american beauty was one of my favorites). kate hudson's role was also just flatlined. i think the director was just not successful enough in bringing the best of of the story. other than that, i like the story line.. it was a different kind of war drama.. yet, it was just like any other love stories tangled in war drama. i rated three stars for this movie. i enjoyed watching it, but once is enough. what about you?
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Genre: Drama
taking a set in the late 1800, when British was one of the most powerful countries in the world, this movie tells a story about a young officer in the army named harry faversham played by heath ledger. during that time, it was known within the army that a white feather will be given to someone as an act of cowardice. harry received four feathers when he decided to resign from his mission just after he was assigned to go to war to sudan. british army was fighting against the muslim power that was trying to overturn sudan.
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