Zulu (1962, PG)

Directed by: Cy Endfield

Grade: A—

There are those moments in Zulu, an action-packed, combat historical picture, that feel like cowboys and indians played out in Africa.  The Zulus are the Indians; the British Redcoats are the Cowboys.  For whatever reason I felt that way, I will probably never find out.  The real question is whether or not Zulu is a good movie, and the answer is a partial yes.  It's a supremely good one that finds support for it's characters among all the chaos of the combat.

The film's prologue informs us that a British army has invaded Zululand in South Africa, and have been subsequently wiped out by a Zulu counterattack in the Battle of Isandlwana.  Reinforcements are on the way, but a small detachment of Brits in an isolated outpost as Rorke's Drift aren't so sure.  What they are sure of is that an army of 4,500 Zulus is marching their way .  130 men strong, many of those men sick and/or wounded, with no heavy weapons or automatic support, they prepare to fight to the very last man.

What follows is an incredibly true story of heroic bravery.  Many scenes depict the horrors of combat up close, not in the gruesome fashion present in most of today's war films, but we still get a sense for what these poor guys went through.  The film spends about forty minutes introducing us to the thoughts and attitudes of the principal characters; in essence, it's preparing us for the battle itself.  The next hour and a half is a repeat of Zulu frontal assaults upon the outpost.  The British fire volley after volley of rifle bullets into the Zulu ranks.  When ammunition starts to run a little low and the Zulu's overwhelming numbers start to tell, they resort to hand-to-hand combat with knives, clubs, spears, shields, bayonets, rifle stocks and anything else they can get their hands on.  This is where the heroics, commited by individual soldiers in the battle, standout among the chaos enveloping the screen.

Zulu never really did get the recognition that it deserved, and I am sorry to report that I feel it's indispensible value has been overshadowed by other epic films of the era, because they are more visually impressive (Spartacus and the Longest Day are two examples).  Either way, I strongly appreciate Zulu for presenting another factor of combat that really hasn't been depicted in many other war films, and that is a presentation that contrasts the fighting style of British Redcoats with African warriors.  Yes, yes that shadow of Hollywood antics creeps in here and there sporadically throughout the course of the picture, and since then we have seen many, more modern films that present war as hell on Earth.  But all the way back in 1962, Zulu was really the only major production that showcased war at it's most dirty and grittiest.  It hands the facts over to us, so that we can contemplate what war is really all about for ourselves.