4 of 10
Cinematography by Robert Richardson
Heath Ledger
Wes Bentley
Djimon Hounsou
Kate Hudson
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| The Four Feathers 4 of 10 |
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| Directed by Shekhar Kapur Cinematography by Robert Richardson Heath Ledger Wes Bentley Djimon Hounsou Kate Hudson |
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| Just a quick note to Hollywood: You can�t make any old story into an epic. It either is an epic story to start with, or it isn�t. And if its not, don�t be trying to pore new wine into old wine skins. Visuals alone will not do it; it is not enough to try and channel the cinematic style of David Lean. First off, that is much harder than you might think. And secondly, it can leave the film feeling very empty, if the story does not justify the epic slant of the visuals. This particular film had been made at least 4 times before now. It was made twice in the silent film era alone. Then there was the wonderful Zoltan Korda version, from 1939. Interestingly enough, that film was an epic. So how did this one fail? To start off, the story is different; it has been Hollywoodized, and the result is definitely inferior. Somehow, a bit of the magic is lost during the obvious attempts to tighten and simplify the story. Faversham's motivation becomes a bit more ambiguous, or at least a bit more selfish. Other plot points become far more muddled than they were in the Korda classic, and the story simply can�t hold up under the strain. Nor, understandably enough, can the cast. Heath Ledger seems to be a bit short of leading man material. Wes Bentley is solid, if a bit under drawn. Kate Hudson is, quite simply, irritating. And even Djimon Hounsou, who is spectacular as always, seems a bit empty here. Where the film truly succeeds is in its art direction and visuals. The sets and costumes are sumptuous, and Richardson�s work is truly breathtaking. Sadly enough, even Kapur�s visuals falls prey to the typical Hollywood problem: way too much slow motion. He also succumbs to a much more serious � and unfortunately, increasingly common � Hollywood disease: the notion that a film�s art direction and visual flair can somehow overcome a weak storyline. This mistake in an original film might have been overlooked. But since we have Korda�s wonderful work to compare it to, this production comes off as painfully hollow. | ||||||