Written, Edited & Proofed By: Christopher H.
Minor Additional Editing by: Lee Fenton
Zulu – Michael Caine’s First Movie is an Epic Classic
Every great actor has their start. Sometimes it’s a bit part in a television series, a cameo on a sketch comedy show, or a small part in a larger movie. Eventually, an actor get’s his big break for real, earning an important role in a much larger picture.
Michael Caine is one such actor. The renowned British star has appeared in a variety of films, from military dramas to The Muppet Christmas Carol. At the height of epic blockbusters, Caine got a rather prominent role in one such movie.
That movie was called Zulu. This 1964 classic was made back when motion pictures had to put the credits first, and those credits make a point to introduce Michael Caine. The film itself is a military classic that has held up extremely well over the decades.
The film loosely follows the story surrounding Rorke’s Drift, a missionary fort laid to siege by forces of the Zulu Nation in what would later become South Africa during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Michael Caine plays Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, one of two officers at the British fort, that, with less than two hundred men and their trusty Martini-Henry rifles, fended off an assault of thousands of Zulu warriors until reinforcements arrived.
The film does take some liberties with history –local Boer cavalry flee to protect their homes rather than defend the fort, when historically they stayed until they ran out of ammo for their carbines- and in one rather infamous retool of history, a known teetotaler is portrayed as a criminal drunk. The actor’s granddaughter famously stormed out of the movie premier regarding the falsehood.
Despite such liberties, the film is still an excellent dramatic portrayal of a handful of men fending off a much larger and equally organized military foe. Such stories are somewhat cliché, sure, but clichés have their basis somewhere, and this film is one such start.
Caine’s role is of a cocksure young officer who is reluctantly forced into command when the senior officer get’s wounded. Unsure of how to lead men in war, but trusting in his rifles and his sergeant as any good officer should, Caine’s character leads the haggard defenders to victory.
Some might look at this film as imperialist propaganda, and yes, it does tell a story in relation to the British Empire at its height, but, that’s not the point. The point is two opposing forces, more alike than either might admit, fighting the bloody business of war with the sort of respect and duty one would expect of the nineteenth century.
For fans of Michael Caine curious on his early career, history buffs, or war movie enthusiasts, Zulu is an excellent classic that should not be missed.
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