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The Four Feathers

The Four Feathers

Action · Adventure · Drama · 2002

A young British officer resigns his post when he learns of his regiment's plan to ship out to the Sudan for the conflict with the Mahdi. His friends and fiancée send him four white feathers as symbols of what they view as his cowardice. To redeem his honor, he disguises himself as an Arab and secretly saves their lives.

Movie details

The Four Feathers

“Freedom. Country. Honor. Passion. To save his best friend, one man must risk everything he loves.”

2002 Action · Adventure · Drama 2h 12m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

A young British officer resigns his post when he learns of his regiment's plan to ship out to the Sudan for the conflict with the Mahdi. His friends and fiancée send him four white feathers as symbols of what they view as his cowardice. To redeem his honor, he disguises himself as an Arab and secretly saves their lives.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Four Feathers?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Shekhar Kapur

Written by

Michael Schiffer · Hossein Amini

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger

Harry Faversham

Wes Bentley

Wes Bentley

Jack Durrance

Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson

Ethne Eustace

Djimon Hounsou

Djimon Hounsou

Abou Fatma

Alex Jennings

Alex Jennings

Colonel Hamilton

Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen

William Trench

Lucy Gordon

Lucy Gordon

Isabelle

Court is in session

Put The Four Feathers on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.