Four Feathers : British History Thru Indian eyes.

Video Source: Amazon Prime

Shekhar Kapur the director is known in India for small personal films like 'Masoom', a comedy called "Mr. India" and the biographical "The Bandit Queen". So it was really surprising for me to see him direct movies like "Four Feathers" and "Elizabeth" which have a wider canvas and are based on British history and have not much to do with India.

Link To Four Feathers Trailer....

Four feathers reminds us of old movies like those of David Lean. The story is about a man who does not want to fight in a war and so is dubbed a coward by his wife to be and is given the customary 'white feathers' but there are only three instead of four. The hero (Heath Ledger) then tries to redeem himself by following the troops on his own. Most of the movie is about the suffering he has to go thru in the desert and later as part of a labor camp where he manages to find his friends who preceded him. The war scenes are shot in  a unique style. I was  especially impressed with the scene where the rectangular formation made by the British soldiers is slowly overtaken by the Sudanese; like a pack of wild animals attacking their weakened prey from all sides.

Heath Ledger and Wes Bentley act very well and remind you of dignified actors of old. Shekhar Kapur has added emotions, like genuine friendship between men , which is very rare in modern English movies (from the western hemisphere) unless they are gay and there is sex involved!!