May Movie Review

Cobra Verde and The Four Feathers
by Hersius

Cobra Verde and The Four Feathers are both based on novels and set in the late 1800s in far-flung locales.

Cobra Verde, also known as Slave Coast, was released in 1988 to mixed reviews, with the DVD being released in 2000. Werner Herzog directed Klaus Kinski in their last movie together, shot on location in Brazil and Ghana. The tale is based on the 1980 novel The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin and features a protagonist named Francisco Manoel da Silva, who is definitely not to be confused with the 19th century Brazilian composer of the same name. The plot follows the last years of a Brazilian who reinvents himself according to circumstances. Leaving work as a miner, da Silva becomes in turn an outlaw, an overseer for a sugar plantation, and finally a slaver when he is sent to Africa on a certain death mission to reopen the slave trade with an African king. He successfully reopens the slave trade by aiding consiprators in training an army of women and deposing the ruler. The new ruler gives da Silva the title of viceroy and confers the right to regulate the slave trade in that kingdom.

The protagonist lives his life in the practice of taking what he wishes as Ubar within the circle of his own sword, and others in fact put his limits on him through betrayal. Stating that he trusts neither people nor animals, he remains a loner. At the end he has no real friend or supporters, and although he fathers at least 65 children, he has no family. He fails to see any importance in developing personal relationships to complement his drive for self-interest, and therefore in solitude, as his world falls apart yet again, he mourns the lack of love in his life without truly understanding what need he is sensing. His life gives the appearance of success through opportunistic reinvention of self and the pursuit of self-interest that benefits others as well, yet because his life has not been a balanced one that forges solid relationships, at the end of the movie he is truly left alone. An added treat for those who like contemplating panther girls and talunas is the army of women which is organized by the conspirators and trained by the protagonist.

The Four Feathers is based on a 1902 novel by A.E.W. Mason and is set in England and Africa. Six versions of this story have been filmed. The 1915 version directed by J. Searle Dawley and the 1921 version directed by Rene Plaissetty are both silent films and may appeal for that feature. The 1929 version directed by Mercian C. Cooper, Lothar Mendes, and Ernest B. Schoedsack, stars Richard Arlen, Fay Wray, William Powell, Noah Berry, and Clive Brook and so has cast appeal. The 1939 version directed by Zoltan Korda is one of the many 1939 great movies and is considered by critics to be the definitive remake of this tale. A made for TV movie in 1977 directed by Don Sharp stars Beau Bridges, Jane Seymour, Robert Powell, and Simon Ward and so also has cast appeal. The 2002 version directed by Shekhar Kapur starring Wes Bentley and Kate Hudson received positive reviews for its majestic sweep and negative reviews for introducing a politicaly correct slant from time to time.

In the name of love, Harry Faversham, a British soldier, resigns his commission just before his unit is sent to the Sudan to quell an uprising. His three soldier friends accuse him of cowardice, which is symbolized by their giving him 3 feathers. His fiancee likewise interprets his action as cowardice and gives him a fourth feather (and, as it were, the bird) and calls off the marriage. To redeem himself, he goes to Africa and conducts a mission of rescue. As he proves his courage he redeems the feathers and his sense of self-respect.

Honor is the theme here. The protagonist, misunderstood for doing what he thought was the right thing to do, adapts and again makes the decision to do what seems to be the right thing. The attraction is that he does his work incognito. His focus is on his task as an end in itself. He wants his former life back but does not condition his actions upon that. His vow is not to others but to himself, and his understanding of responsibility centers on his sense of his own honor above his own safety or situation. His gallantry is displayed not as something owed to anyone but as an expression of his will overcoming adversities.