“The Four Feathers.” (1939. Not rated. Criterion collection. Blu-ray: $39.95; DVD: $29.95)
This 1939 Technicolor film, from Zoltan Korda, is the best of the British colonial action-adventure films — the most rousing, the most nuanced and the most emotionally satisfying.
It’s also the most intelligent.
The characters are complicated, with motives that are complex and yet clear. And the conversations are of a high order, full of subtle ideas.
The story is about a soldier (John Clements) from a military family, whose life has been bound up in military culture, who resigns his commission before a British engagement in the Sudan. His three best friends send him white feathers, symbolizing cowardice, and his fiance breaks their engagement. After some soul-searching, he decides to go to the Middle East and, disguised as an Arab, attempts to prove his bravery to himself and his friends.
It’s a great story, filmed and acted impeccably, but what takes it to the next level is the sophistication of its point of view. It is not an endorsement of British colonialism. The lead character is, at the very least, skeptical of his government’s policies.
He also sees through the myths of the military culture in which he lives: In a particularly amusing moment, he defuses the boasts of an old officer (C. Aubrey Smith), who has been telling the same tall tale for 50 years.
The movie is really about the value of courage for its own sake. It’s about the quest for personal fulfillment.
Ralph Richardson co-stars. June Duprez, as the fiance, gets a chance to be more than decorative. She plays a thinking, well-spoken woman. And on Blu-ray, the Criterion Collection’s color transfer is so clear that you can see every strand of white and silver hair on Smith’s head.
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