Zulu (1964)

Outnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.

Director:

Cy Endfield

Writers:

John Prebble (original screenplay), Cy Endfield (original screenplay)

Stars:

Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stanley Baker	...	Lt. John Chard R. E.
Jack Hawkins	...	Otto Witt
Ulla Jacobsson	...	Margareta Witt
James Booth	...	Pvt. Henry Hook
Michael Caine	...	Lt. Gonville Bromhead
Nigel Green	...	Colour-Sergeant Bourne
Ivor Emmanuel	...	Pvt. Owen
Paul Daneman	...	Sgt. Maxfield
Glynn Edwards	...	Cpl. Allen
Neil McCarthy	...	Pvt. Thomas
David Kernan	...	Pvt. Hitch
Gary Bond	...	Pvt. Cole
Peter Gill	...	Pvt. 612 Williams
Tom Gerrard	...	Lance / Corporal
Patrick Magee	...	Surgeon Reynolds

Storyline

Zululand, South Africa, 1879. The British are fighting the Zulus and one of their columns has just been wiped out at Isandlwana. The Zulus next fix their sights on the small British outpost at Rorke's Drift. At the outpost are 150 British troops under the command of Lieutenants Bromhead and Chard. In the next few days these 150 troops will fight about 4,000 Zulus in one of the most courageous battles in history.

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Plot Keywords:

zulu | british army | victorian era | military tactics | anglo zulu war | 

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Taglines:

These are the days and nights of fury and honor and courage and cowardice that an entire century of empire-making and film-making can never surpass!

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Zulu

Release Date:

17 June 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zulu

Filming Locations:

Amphitheatre, Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$1,720,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$8,000,000, 31 December 1964

Company Credits

Production Co:

Diamond Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because the film was shot in South Africa, the cast and crew were lectured on the need to refrain from fraternizing with the topless tribal dancers, since the penalty for interracial sex in the country at the time was seven years hard labor.

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Goofs

When Rev. Otto Witt (Jack Hawkins) flees Cetewayo's kraal after the report of the massacre at Isandlwana, you can tell that there is a stunt driver in the wagon. The man has a beard, while Hawkins does not.

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Quotes

Bromhead: Chard. One of my men - Hook - do you know him?
Lieutenant John Chard: [preoccupied] No.
Bromhead: In the hospital, malingering under arrest. He's a thief, a coward and an insubordinate barrack room lawyer. And you've given him a rifle!
Lieutenant John Chard: [distracted] What?
Bromhead: In Queen's Regulations, it specifically states - Damn funny. Like a train... in the distance.
[stops as the sound of thousands of Zulu warriors marching toward the mission can be heard]
Lieutenant John Chard: You were saying about Hook?

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the opening credits 'and Introducing Michael Caine' is shown, this would suggest that this was his first film. In fact MC had previously had five credited film roles, numerous TV appearances and several uncredited film roles before appearing in Zulu.

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Connections

Referenced in Welshy Reviews: Black Sheep (2012)

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Soundtracks

Men of Harlech
(uncredited)
Traditional
Performed by soldiers

User Reviews

Superlative acting, cinematography & direction: what impact!

I cannot find words to fully express how perfectly formed this film is, though I will- of course- make a good stab at it!

I've seen Zulu so many times since it was first released that I have lost count. In the days when you could sit in the cinema and watch a film come round for a second (or even a third) time, I always did this with Zulu. I bought the soundtrack when it came out (on vinyl, of course).

From Stanley Baker & Michael Caine on through the cast list the acting is, quite simply, superb. This is an ensemble piece, and the ensemble gives its all! Photographically, it is beautifully conceived and executed. There is a tendency in 'war' movies to find a couple of favourite types of shot, and then endlessly repeat them, rather like a budgerigar that has learnt how to make his bell ring: no danger of that here; a whole lexicon of camera movements & angles is deployed with consummate skill so that you cannot watch this film without being fully engaged with it.

But, to cut to the chase, what is so striking is that here is a movie that could so easily have been yet another 'duffing up the natives' actioner, and instead becomes a vehicle for all sorts of interesting questions. Questions such as 'what is it to be a man?', and 'what is courage?' are posed and turned into interesting questions with complex and surprising answers.

The way that Zulu culture/social psychology is compared with that of the British soldiers is also deft and insightful. The cry of the drunken pastor- "you're all going to die"- echoes through the rest of the film, as we see how the protagonists face death.

Any review of this would be incomplete without mention of the music, which is so well-suited to the action. It forms a restless, swirling, and sometimes majestic backdrop to what is happening on-screen.

The voice-overs which 'bookend' the film also underline that which is, in any case, clear from the narrative: this film is no apologia for imperialism. Neither does it represent battle as other than bloody and painful murder. What is, perhaps, the most remarkable feature of the film is the way in which it damns war while neither grossing out nor alienating its audience. It is, on the contrary, an enthralling and passionate entertainment.

One memorable visual moment occurs toward the end, when the Zulus appear simultaneously on the skyline all round Rorke's Drift. Compare this with the appearance of the tanks on the skyline in 'The Battle of the Bulge'...

P.S., beware (as you always should) TV showings or videos that are 'scanned' rather than in the original letterbox format: cinematography this good does not deserve to be butchered!