The Four Feathers
1939 Directed by Zoltan Korda
Synopsis
See...The Dreaded Dervishes! - Kipling's Famous FUZZY WUZZIES!
A disgraced officer risks his life to help his childhood friends in battle.
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September the 3rd, 1939: the British Commonwealth declares war against Nazi aggressors storming Poland from the start of the month. With the Phony War phase of profuse war-time procrastination under way, what derring-do did the gallant lads and lasses of Great Britain do?!
They went to the theaters and watched The Four Feathers—in droves, of course. It had already been released a month before, but now it had become London Film's biggest success since The Private Life of Henry VIII. If that isn't perfect timing for a propaganda epic like this film, then I don't know what perfect timing is.
But it's no simple propaganda film.
The Four Feathers ia movie at war with itself over the way it presents…
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61/100
I've never quite understood why Faversham needs to redeem himself in disguise. Makes for a more cracking story, obviously, but it's pretty nonsensical—he scars himself for life and undergoes all manner of hardship to achieve the same respect he'd likely have gotten simply by re-enlisting. (And why carry on the charade when he and Durrance are alone for days on end, with the latter stumbling around blind? That just seems daft. Certainly he 'fesses up quickly to the other two when circumstances demand it. Most of his decisions seem to be made with a reader/viewer in mind.) What would be challenging as well as rousing is the implication that he's able to behave more recklessly, and hence more heroically,…
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Revisiting this for the first time since I was a kid and it's still great.
The opening scene of British military minds counting off the horrible, but splendid ways for a soldier to die:
"Cossack's lance went in at the back of his neck and came out of his throat."
"Best thing that could have happened to him."
The young officer fearing he'll be captured, have his nose cut off and be hung upside down by the toes:
"Disgusting business. All the change falling out of your pockets."
Upper lips don't come much stiffer.
Worth watching for the moment the first of the returned feathers falls out of the envelope during the meal. Just wonderful.
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61/100
I've never quite understood why Faversham needs to redeem himself in disguise. Makes for a more cracking story, obviously, but it's pretty nonsensical—he scars himself for life and undergoes all manner of hardship to achieve the same respect he'd likely have gotten simply by re-enlisting. (And why carry on the charade when he and Durrance are alone for days on end, with the latter stumbling around blind? That just seems daft. Certainly he 'fesses up quickly to the other two when circumstances demand it. Most of his decisions seem to be made with a reader/viewer in mind.) What would be challenging as well as rousing is the implication that he's able to behave more recklessly, and hence more heroically,…
-
September the 3rd, 1939: the British Commonwealth declares war against Nazi aggressors storming Poland from the start of the month. With the Phony War phase of profuse war-time procrastination under way, what derring-do did the gallant lads and lasses of Great Britain do?!
They went to the theaters and watched The Four Feathers—in droves, of course. It had already been released a month before, but now it had become London Film's biggest success since The Private Life of Henry VIII. If that isn't perfect timing for a propaganda epic like this film, then I don't know what perfect timing is.
But it's no simple propaganda film.
The Four Feathers ia movie at war with itself over the way it presents…
-
There are some pacing issues which don't help keeping the viewer interested, but overall it's a respectable movie with great camera work and solid acting.
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Ako vam frendovi i pica pošalju bijela pera (koja su simbol kukavičluka) jer ne vidite slavu u bezumnom i glupom ratu, onda možete:
a) otići u pustinju izigravati nijemog Arapa te trpiti batine i svašta nešto kako bi spasili njihove guzice
b) zabiti im ta pera u iste te krvožedne guzice i reći im da krepajuDa je naš glavni lik imalo pametan odabrao bi opciju b) ali onda očito ne bi ni bilo filma. Koji je nepotrebno rastegnut nezanimljivim kadrovima prepunim hrpom statista. U zadnjih pola sata uhvati tempo, tako da je ocjena ipak prolazna.
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Revisiting this for the first time since I was a kid and it's still great.
The opening scene of British military minds counting off the horrible, but splendid ways for a soldier to die:
"Cossack's lance went in at the back of his neck and came out of his throat."
"Best thing that could have happened to him."
The young officer fearing he'll be captured, have his nose cut off and be hung upside down by the toes:
"Disgusting business. All the change falling out of your pockets."
Upper lips don't come much stiffer.
Worth watching for the moment the first of the returned feathers falls out of the envelope during the meal. Just wonderful.
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Great use of technicolor and a good score. Basic plot but still enjoyable.
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"A soldier resigns his commission on the eve of his regiment's departure for the 1898 campaign in Omdurman, and is given three white feathers by by fellow officers who consider him a coward, and takes a fourth from his fiancee. He then proves that he is not a coward, but a hero. The film was beautifully shot in Technicolor - it doesn't look like a 1939 film, but sounds very much like one. I found the story very silly (as in far-fetched rather than funny) so it gets all its stars for the wonderful photography."
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This adventure film has been called the Gone With the Wind of England, but that’s probably a silly comparison based just on the fact that it’s expensive, in color, and made in 1939. I was excited for it because it was getting a criterion release and the art on said release looked really cool. The film did not really live up to my expectations as the film was not overly exciting and it also wasn’t an overly sophisticated. It was clearly colonialist in nature and… yeah it was not the best. It’s been less than ten days since I’ve seen it and I barely remember it.
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Watched this on Hulu Plus. I thought it was a very entertaining movie but I have to say after one viewing that I liked the Heath Ledger remake a bit better. I cannot believe I just said that, but it's true.