Mumbai, Nov 23: Shekhar Kapur's `Four Feathers', insightful overview on the aftermath of the colonial rule, was screened today as part of the film India worldwide section of the sixth International Film Festival, organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Images. Iconoclastic director Shekhar Kapur brings a contemporary edge to mason's period novel of nations that link conscience with colonialism and resulting reprisals.

The film revolves around Harry Faversham, who gets engaged to the spirited Ethne. However, the promising Harry, gives her a rude jolt when he puts in his paper when his regiment is being shipped to Sudan to battle. The act seen as an action of cowardice, earns Harry, four white feathers, including one from the young Ethne. The humiliation drives the demoralised Harry to travel incognito to Sudan in search of his detractors, disguising himself as a local, while undergoing extreme danger.

The bonding of birth and nation, surmounts the alienation brought about by patriotic principles and unrequited love, in the moving film where Kapur imbues his sweeping visuals with a time-worn aching need for human and racial understanding. Mankind appears as dots on the gigantic landscapes that link the earth. The film India worldwide section, which was conceptualise to provide a window for the difficult-to-access short films made by intenational players.

Bureau Report