My Boy Jack

“My Boy Jack” is the story of Jack Kipling, and it is a tragic one. Son of the famous Rudyard Kipling, all Jack wants to do is join the army and do his part in World War I. He cannot pass the physical, however, as he is practically blind without his glasses. But with the British casualties rising and some help from his influential father, Jack joins the army at age seventeen.

            Truly it is a classic tale of triumph. Jack initially struggles with army life, unable to perform as well as he should. But perseverance and constant training pull him through and viewers proudly watch as he claws his way to success and earns his rank of Lieutenant. He is introduced to his platoon and leads them respectfully and proudly, slowly working their way to becoming an efficient group of soldiers.

Daniel Radcliffe as Jack Kipling

            Jack visits home after many months of training. He asks his father to write him a letter. The main assault on the German line will fall just around his birthday, but should it come before he would not be able to participate, being only seventeen. And his father, so proud of his son, does as he asks and writes a letter to allow him to participate in the assault.

            The day after Jack’s eighteenth birthday, he is part of the run on the German trenches. The Kipling home receives a telegram that he is missing. Months go by as they try to discern what may have happened to their beloved Jack. Continually searching through photographs of wounded soldiers and listening to accounts of others, Jack’s family is desperate to learn what happened. They refuse to give up hope.

            It is not until a member of Jack’s platoon arrives that the Kipling family is finally told what became of their son and brother.

            There is a certain horror in discovering that Jack has died. The film is moving in a way that leaves viewers with the same desperation as Jack’s family, determined to believe that there is still hope. This film is well done and a good view for anyone interested in World War I and Rudyard Kipling’s daring son, but one can expect a few tears for the eighteen year old boy who lost his life in a German trench on September 27, 1915.

The Four Feathers

            A.E.W. Mason’s The Four Feathers is a heart-wrenching and adventurous tale. The 1939 film adaptation is well done, but in truth it falls short of the novel’s portrayal of events. Mason’s characters seem to be made of more flesh and blood than those of the film, with more depth and more feeling to their personalities.

            The film never actually addresses young Harry Feversham’s reluctance to go to war. He feared that he would be a coward. Always that fear haunted him, that one day his mettle would be tested and found wanting. And so, when he had one the heart of the girl he loved, he resigned his commission. This in itself might never have been thought cowardly, had a telegram not arrived the night before Feversham announced his resignation, informing him that his regiment was shipping off to Egypt.

            In the film, Harry Feversham’s father, General Feversham, passed away. Feversham used his death as an explanation, saying that his duty to his father was now over. In actuality, Feversham uses his engagement to Ethne Eustace as the reason for his resignation, as his father is still alive.

            After going to Ramelton to be with Ethne, Feversham is told that a packaged was forwarded to him from his old address. The package contains three white feathers, a symbol of cowardice from three men of his old regiment: Trench, Castleton and Willoughby. Feversham’s best friend, Durrance, knows nothing of these events. He does not discover the truth until much later.

            In the film, Durrance is one of the three who send Feversham a feather, and Feversham’s disgrace is his motivation to follow his old regiment to Egypt and find opportunities to express his bravery and make his accusers retract their feathers. However, it is Ethne who is Feversham’s guiding star. Having added her own feather to the three originals, Ethne shows Feversham that she believes him a coward. And Feversham, devastated by the pain he has caused her, makes a decision to return the feathers through acts of bravery. No hope that she will wait for him gleams in his soul, but he retains some belief that they will meet “afterwards.”

            In the film, Feversham poses as a mute Arab and helps Durrance after he becomes blind, guiding him back to safety. He then gets himself sent to prison in order to help rescue Willoughby and Trench, in the process inciting a prison rebellion that tips the scales in a key British battle. The whole process is very quick, very exciting and very gratifying.

            But Feversham’s tale is not so glorious, nor so brief. Three years spent in the desert, posing as a Greek, picking up the language, and waiting for any opportunity in which he might redeem his honor. His first opportunity comes from retrieving a packet of letters in a heavily guarded city and giving them to Willoughby, who retracts its feather and returns home a year later to deliver it to Ethne.

            His second opportunity, some months later, is revealed upon discovering that Captain Trench is in prison. Feversham makes careful plans in order to first get into prison and then to arrange an escape for both of them. His plan might have succeeded if Captain Trench had not come down with fever three days before their planned escape. But Feversham’s man comes through, and he is able to get himself and his second accuser out. Captain Trench then accepts his own feather, and follows Willoughby home to give it to Ethne.

            Feversham’s third opportunity never came, because Castleton was killed early in the war. He returns to Ramelton to see Ethne, who is engaged to his friend Durrance, gone blind by sunstroke some time after Willoughby retracts his feather. Durrance, meanwhile, has pieced together the entire story and is determined that, although he loves Ethne, she does not love him and so should marry Feversham.

            It is a rather bittersweet tale, much less exciting than the film portrayed it to be, but just as satisfying and perhaps rather more fulfilling. A lesson hides beneath the surface of Mason’s story. It was not Feversham’s fear that sent him spiraling into disgrace, but rather his fear that he would be afraid, which is a much different thing altogether.

Zulu

“Zulu” is not cinematic. It is not blessed with amazing acting. Its special effects are sketchy at best. But “Zulu” is surprisingly resounding nonetheless. Two lieutenants, Chard and Bromhead, are informed that there tiny contingent of 140 men in Natal has been isolated by the destruction of the main British force. 4,000 Zulu warriors will be upon them in mere hours.

Michael Caine and Stanley Baker as Lieutenants Bromhead and Chard

            Despite first impressions and a number of minor power struggles, Chard takes command of the garrison and uses all the knowledge at his disposal to lead his small force to some kind of victory. Using the wounded men in the hospital as well as the healthy men at the walls, the British manage to repel the Zulus’ onslaught time and again. A final confrontation soon after dawn leaves the British alone. Aside from the dead at their feet, the Zulus have disappeared.

            After two days of fighting, the British soldiers are exhausted. They are ready to break. Three hours following their heartening victory, they allow themselves to hope that the entire ordeal may be over. Just as they begin to relax, thousands of Zulus appear on the hilltop, chanting incomprehensibly at the British soldiers below.

            The exhausted men can only cry out in anguish that the Zulus are taunting them, demanding that the job be finished and be done with it. But one among them announces that the Zulus are not taunting the beleaguered soldiers. In fact, they are saluting their bravery. After an inexplicably long chant and shaking of spears, the Zulus withdraw from the hillside, leaving the soldiers in complete bewilderment. Beneath the confusion, though, lurks a gleam of pride, and the British soldiers stand a little taller, despite their fatigue.

The Pure Land

            The Pure Land is the little known story of Thomas Glover, a Scottish enterpriser who makes his way to Japan to make a life for himself. This novel is action-packed, but at the same time is very languid and smooth. The reader feels almost as though they have traveled with Thomas Glover on his life-long journey of joy and suffering, success and failure.

            Alan Spence introduces his tail with the bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, following his main character’s son as he walks through the devastation that was the atomic bomb. Tomisaburo’s reminiscence of his father opens the main story about a restless young man, ready to get out of his tiny town and see the world.

Given employment in Jardine & Matheson, Glover travels to Japan to make business. The reader follows Glover’s first days in Nagasaki, adjusting with him as he becomes assimilated into the culture. Meeting several pretty girls along the way, Glover quickly establishes himself as Jardine’s top dog. He works hard to earn respect and quickly ascends the hierarchy of power within the company, taking over his own warehouse.

The longer Glover stays in Japan, the more involved he gets with the politics of the land. The tiny archipelago is governed by the Shogun, who has illegitimate rule over the titled but powerless Emperor. Each side has its own views on foreigners and their right to trade in Japan, and both sides are willing to resort to violence. To make matters worse, Britain itself sails into the harbor to batter helpless towns into submission, demanding that the country allow foreign trade.

After losing his first wife in the unnecessary massacre of a small town, Glover tirelessly devotes himself to overthrowing the Shogun, whose policies were the instigator of Britain’s fury. Despite many words of caution against it, Glover begins dealing in arms. As long as both sides can pay, he deals with both sides. But as the months wear on, his business with the wrong side becomes more and more shady. Members of different clans approach Glover with requests to travel to England. They need to see this new world, and see it they do. The men return with tales of awe and the thirst to make their own nation as powerful and as progressive as Glover’s.

There’s a certain amount of excitement in Spence’s story. The reader is often sucked into the events, fervently glancing over their shoulder for any of the Shogun’s men as they help the rebellion. Dull fear sits in their stomachs as they read about shadows following Glover down the street and threats made upon his life. Adrenaline courses through them as they are dragged through a battle to decide the fate of a nation. And satisfaction glows within them when the Emperor is restored to his rightful throne.

Spence wraps up his main story with a journalist interviewing the illustrious Glover, now far too old to be avoiding samurais and begetting children, of which he has two who carry his name and at least one that is not officially his. The man who helped overthrow the Shogun, found Mitsubishi, and made a fortune twice has been reduced to imminent death and few manners. He looks back on his life with a sort of bittersweet reminiscence, with more than a few regrets.

Of course, Glover’s is not the only story told in Spence’s novel. The reader is soon enlightened as to the fate of the mother of Glover’s son, who disappears after Glover returns to Scotland for a brief stay to oversee the building of warships. The beautiful girl went into a nunnery, and lived out her days in peace.

Her son, however, was granted no such serenity. Always plagued by being half-Japanese, half-English, Tomisaburo is often tormented and singled out. Worse yet, he lives to see the tragedy that is the atomic bomb. Several days later he commits suicide upon his father’s samurai sword.

Despite the rather sad ending to a historical tale, Spence leaves the reader with a sense of satisfaction. So much awful things occur in order to make Glover the man he would become, and the novel is written so that the reader can take it in stride, as Glover did, and grow with the telling.

The Lady With the Lamp

“The Lady With the Lamp” is an emotional portrayal of the life of the amazing Florence Nightingale. Though the real Florence did not quite have the stunning beauty of the actress who portrayed her, the tale told by this film is poignant and touching.

Florence Nightingale

            Meeting Florence as a young woman in her prime, the viewer immediately sees that she has a strong character, rather out of place in male-dominated London. As she grows more and more restless, Florence meets the rather remarkable Richard Milnes, to whom she tells all her frustrations. She heard a call from God, and neither society nor her family can stop her from pursuing her calling. She wants to help people.

            Despite opposition from her family members, Florence goes to nursing school to better understand how to care for the sick. Returning home, she takes over the hospital in town, disgusting and poorly maintained. Slowly but surely she betters the patients’ care and increases their survival rates. But even as she succeeds in cleaning up the abomination that London saw fit to call a hospital, still she is not satisfied that she has fulfilled her calling. She takes her rebellion a step further, determined to follow British soldiers to Scutari.

            Florence Nightingale’s remarkable story is told with all its heartbreaking qualities, including turning down the man she loved in order to better fulfill her call from God. “The Lady With the Lamp” is a good film for all who want to know more about the remarkable young woman who followed her heart against all opposition.

The Man Who Would Be King

The film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King is lively and exciting. Two rogues, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan, decide to make their way to the fictional country of Kafiristan. They make friends with a local warlord and help vanquish his enemies. During one scuffle, Danny is hit by an arrow. It actually gets stuck in his strap, but to the natives it looks as though he was shot, pulled the arrow out, and lived in a miracle unseen by any of the Kafiristanians.

            As so often happens with events that people don’t understand, the people decide that this phenomenon was produced by magic. They decide that Danny is the son of Alexander the Great, a god in their country. Danny and Peachy, seeing a divine opening in the way to becoming rich men, decide to let the people think as they please.

Sean Connery and Michael Caine as Daniel and Peachy

            Of course, the priests of the land must determine that Danny actually is Alexander’s son. They attempt to shoot him as proof, but Peachy stops them and Danny’s Mason medal becomes visible in the struggle. This causes all of the holy men to stop, as the high priest shows a carving made by Alexander some two thousand years before. It is the symbol of the Masons, and definite proof that Danny is Alexander’s son.

            All should be well, but power tends to corrupt, and corrupt it does. Danny decides not to leave with Peachy and riches, as was originally planned, but instead to stay and marry and be king. While attempting to marry Roxanne, she bites him, causing him to bleed. The high priest sees this and exclaims that he is not a god.

            Daniel is sent out to the middle of the bridge he ordered built. It is cut down and he falls to his death. Peachy is crucified, but does not die, and is sent home in a crippled and broken state. The film is a sad account of the bond between friends and the destructiveness of too much power.

Flashman

George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman is a strange portrayal of life in the army. His main character, Harry Flashman, couldn’t quite be considered the protagonist, even in his own tale. Flashman is an extremely difficult character to like, a coward to the core and a liar to boot. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Fraser’s portrayal of British presence in Afghanistan is surprisingly interesting.

                The story is narrated by none other than Harry Flashman, now in his eighties and looking back on his exploits with no remorse. Expelled from one of Britain’s best schools, Flashman decides to join the army, carefully selecting a regiment least likely to be involved in any combat. The tale is ridiculous and would be humorous if Flashman weren’t so uncouth and disreputable. Drawn into a duel, sent to Scotland, slept with the wrong girl, forced into marriage, ordered to resign, shipped to India. It truly is a comedy of errors, made all the better by the dry tone of an old man looking back on his younger days.

General Elphinstone

                Flashman arrives in India better than many. He is immediately liked by his superiors and butters them up with all his sickening flattery. He has a fairly easy few weeks, whoring and learning the language. He even gets invited to dinner with all the important people in Calcutta, who talk endlessly of his usefulness. Just when he thinks he’ll get a comfortable, safe job as a governor’s aide somewhere in India, the tides turn with surprising abruptness and he’s sent instead to be General Elphinstone’s aide in Afghanistan.

                Britain’s hold in Kabul is fairly stable when Flashman arrives. But it quickly disintegrates in the face of the inept British commanders. Elphinstone, known to his men and everyone else as Elphy Bey, is a feeble old man about ready to croak. This is the general put in command of Kabul, essentially dooming any chance of success.

                The fact that Flashman is what he is, and is very honest about it, gives his derision of the British command all the more credit. He describes events in Afghanistan bluntly and with great detail. But the situation never seems dire and the descriptions never gory. In his dry, ironic voice, Flashman relates all that happened to him and his dealings with various people along the way, hiding none of his own vices in the story and therefore feels no inclination to hide those of others.

Harry Flashman

                The story unfolds, a strange assortment of comedy and grief, told by a coward and confirmed by historical events. As we follow Flashman from the army to captivity and back again, there’s really no feeling sorry for the rogue. All one can do is read on in horror as Flashman receives honor and credit truly undeserved. But then, given the state of the British army at the time, it seems unrealistic to expect anything less.

   When Flashman returns home to his forgotten wife, he is presented to the queen and given a medal. High praise indeed, and Flashman cannot wait to tell his wife. It is difficult to feel sorry for him when he discovers his wife is lying to him and most likely sleeping with a man he told her not to. After all, he certainly had his fill of women while he was abroad.

                All in all, Fraser’s story is full of humor, horror, and downright pigheadedness. It presents an interesting view of the British occupation of Afghanistan, and brings forth a few laughs along the way.