Posted on 03/11/2023 10:11:08 AM PST by nickcarraway
Sir Michael Caine has responded to the claim that his 1964 film Zulu incites the far-right, calling it “XXXXXXXX”.
Earlier this year, the film was cited as a “key text” for “white nationalists/supremacists” during a review into the government’s counter-terrorism programme Prevent.
Speaking to The Spectator, Caine revealed he got the part of arrogant, inexperienced Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead in Zulu after playing “a cockney bloke in the West End in a play called Next Time I’ll Sing To You.”
“An American director who was in the audience saw me and gave me a part in the film Zulu as a posh officer. This made me a star and I never went back on the stage again,” said Caine.
Responding to the news that Zulu was named a piece of culture that “incites the far-right”, Caine said: “That is the biggest load of XXXXXXXX I have ever heard.”
Yes, but also that the British military was hardly a formidable force on land.
But the thing that sticks with me is the rear supply Sergeant who insisted that the soldiers drawing additional ammunition had to settle down and cue up properly.
All the while men are dying on the front lines due to a lack of ammunition.
I like watching Zulu and pretending that this is happening in a town or city near me. My BFF says that Zulu was the first big budget zombie movie.
Good for him. I didn’t know Caine was still alive. Looks like he turns 90 in a few days.
Michael is an amazing actor.
Another day, another way to divide us by race or sex.
And “racist” Michael Caine has been married 50 years to a brown Guyanese woman. Shakira.
This BS goes back at least half a century. About fifteen years after Zulu premiered, Zulu Dawn was produced as a sort of prequel to Zulu. I remember as a young teen hearing that it was supposed to be a “corrective” or “answer” to the earlier film.
Rorke’s Drift produced the greatest concentration of VCs awarded in history. As amazing a defense as if the Texans had held on to win at the Alamo or if the 300 Spartans had defeated the Persians instead of dying to the last man to buy time. It saved the Brits from the day before’s disaster at Isandlwana had given the their greatest defeat by African forces. And, although both were in S. Africa the indigenous natives were the white guys. It was the Zulu’s who were the invaders from outside, coming down the east side of Africa from way north of there. There were zero Zulu there before the Brits, much less before the Boer moved there from Holland, finding all of Southern africa empty of people excepting a few hunter gatherer level Bushmen.
Zulu was a reasonably accurate depiction (well within the usual film industry margin of historical error) of one of the most storied military actions in all history, ranks right up there with the Spartans’ defense of Thermopylae. More Victoria Crosses were awarded for the Defence of Rourke’s Drift than any other single action in British history.
The story is all the more poignant because on the previous day a British Army column almost 10x as large under the command of Lord Chelmsford was slaughtered by the Zulu at Isandlwana. Yet that tiny little outpost manned by a fraction as many men held out.
And Rourke’s Drift is close enough to Isandlwana that the British look-outs could see it from a high vantage point. So they knew too well what had happened the day before, and that the same fate was coming for them.
It was a historic event made-to-order for Hollywood. If anything, the Zulu were portrayed as heroic and brave to a fault. The only villain in the entire film was the drunken Swedish minister. It is a Hollywood classic and Sir Michael should remain proud of it.
Amen.
Beat me by 17 seconds, you rascal!
“...the British military was hardly a formidable force on land.”
Wellesley sure improved things in the next 20-30 years.
Do you mean Arthur Wellesley?
Love the movie. That treated both sides of the battlefield with dignity they deserved.
Nice summary by both of you! Thank you.
Way back around 1968, ZULU was shown on TV. A few months later, I believe it was Rex Reed who wrote a book on “All the movies shown on TV, 1968”.
In his criticism of ZULU he moaned and groaned about how such a “racist” movie could be shown in those bad times of 1967-1968 with all the riots going on.
If you want to know more about what led up to what happened in ZULU, I suggest the book THE WASHING OF THE SPEARS by Morris.
I am surprised no one has gone after another good movie, Cornel Wilde’s THE NAKED PREY.
Zulu Dawn is more historically accurate, but Zulu is a much, much, much more entertaining motion picture.
It’s based on an American frontier incident involving Hugh Glass. Which was done recently by Leonardo “What’s-His-Face” in “The Revenant “.(I think I have the name of the movie right!) First time it was done was I think wa as a “Wagon Train” episode.
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