Details

Release year: 2002

Storyline

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.

Top credits

Directors

Shekhar Kapur

Writers

Cast

Heath Ledger — Harry Feversham
Wes Bentley — Jack Durrance
Kate Hudson — Ethne Eustace
Mohamed Bouich — Sudanese Storyteller

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Did you know

• The major fight scene is the Battle of Abu Klea, which took place on January 17-18, 1885. A British Desert Column of 1,400 troops fought a Mahdist force of approximately 14,000 dervishes. The scene depicted in the film is a fictional version of the actual battle in which the British emerged victoriously.

• Abou Fatma mentions serving as a scout for General Hicks. William Hicks, also known as Hicks Pasha, was a British officer in service of the Egyptian army. In 1883, the colonial governor of Egypt dispatched Hicks and his ill-prepared force of around 10,000 soldiers to deal with the advance of the Mahdists. In the Battle of Shaykan, the Egyptians were ambushed and nearly all killed. Hicks was among the dead.

• This is the seventh film version of the source novel. The first was Four Feathers (1915).