The Four Feathers
The Four Feathers
A young British officer resigns his commission just before his regiment is sent to battle and soon receives four white feathers from his friends and fiancee as symbols of what they view as his cowardice.
匚卂尺ㄥ reviewedFebruary 12, 2025
This beautiful film is very complex, with a few flaws, but overall a good exploration of the concept of commitment.
Whereas the plot requires that the script be spun around the concept of cowardice, the four feather insult, and the lengthy redemption - there is an underlying and subtle theme of commitment that rings very true.
Commitment itself is a complex emotion since commitment to one person or idea may compete with commitment to other folks or ideas. This is the dilema that faces handsome Harry Haversham, played well by the ever changing chameleon Heath Ledger.
Harry has made a decision to join the army due to family commitments, specifically his father who is a general. He has made commitments to his buddies, his fellow soldiers. Thi is especially true for his commitment to his best friend, Jack Durrance (played beautifully by Wes Bentley). He has made commitments to his young fiance, Ethne Eustace, played by Kate Hudson. And he has commitments to himself, for he never wished to become a soldier and go to war. A British offensive in the Sudan is the catalyst for Harry to resign his commission as an officer in the army and leave the armed services.
Harry decides to honor the commitment to himself, imagining that his relationship with Ethne will not change. Yet she is deeply impacted and can not imagine their life together if they are social outcasts.
And so, by honoring his commitment to himself, Harry does not honor his commitment to Queen and country, to his father, to his fiance, and to his buddies. After the fellows become fully sunk in the wasp nest of the Sudan, Harry becomes greatly concerned at the report of the high number of deaths of British soldiers. He makes his way to the Sudan to save and protect his buddies and redeem himself in the eyes of others.
During this dramatic struggle Harry undergoes some of the trials and tribulations of the hero, many of which are explained in the writings of Joseph Campbell. For example, in many myths regarding heroes, the hero shows kindness to a lesser being and in turn is rewarded. Harry shows kindness to an African tribal princess who spares his life when her tribesman kills the camel train leader.
The struggles intensify as Harry becomes an observant pawn in a strategic struggle between Sudanese Islamic insurgents and British imperial troops.
At this point he meets Abu Fatma, played exceptionally well by Djimon Hounsou. Djimon is an absolute mountain of muscle, a giant imposing character. Here the film becomes Jungian for in many ways Abu is Harry's shadow, the confrontation with the dark side of the self which brings about a stronger integrated personality. In classic Jungian theory, the Shadow is at first feared,and then becomes a guide into deeper feelings, and finally is integrated into the personality resulting in a stronger character with greater insight and compassion. This is exactly what happens in this partnership between Harry and Abu.
In the end, Harry undertakes feats of incredible bravery and daring. He redeems himself in the eyes of those who saw him as a coward. He does this not only through brave acts but by integration of competing forces within his personality. Harry emerges a far more centered man after his encounter in the desert with his shadow.
There are other well developed sub-themes such as Jack Durrance's heroism and sacrifice first of his eyes and then of his relationship with Ethne.
The film ends with a fine speech by Jack Durrance about commitment to an abstract Queen and country as compared to commitment to the flesh and blood concrete reality of those comrades with whom we have bonded. And thus this parable tells us that our first commitment is to self, and then to those we love, but there is sometimes a steep price to pay for our commitments.
The grand sweeping palaces of England and the desolate prisons hidden in African deserts offer vastly different views of the world of the British Empire. The film takes us on a grand journey of the eyes and of the character.