Zulu
I saw the old movie "Zulu" a couple of nights ago. How old is it? Well they introduced a new actor named Michael Caine in the film. The film is about the defence of Rorke's Drift in South Africa at the end of the last century, where 80 British soldiers defended a small mission station against 4000 Zulu warriors.
The film itself is entertaining, but is a curious mix of historical accuracy and artistic license. The cases says that it is based on a true story, and it is. But that doesn't mean everything in the film is true. The "actor" playing the Zulu chief Cetshwayo was the actual Zulu chief from the 1960's! The Martini-Henry rifles were authentic. Most of the characters were based on real people.
However, artistic license seems more important than truth. Private Hook, V.C. was portrayed as a petty thief and a drunk, when in fact he was a teetotler. Lieutenant's Chard and Bromhead got along fine, but the film introduced tension. Yes, Chard was not an Infantry Officer but he was the ranking officer because of the date of his commission, but the film indicated it was a couple of months when in fact it was 3 years. The Zulus are shown with Martini-Henry rifles when in fact they has muskets. Rev. Witt did escape the camp, but he was not a drunk. His daughter was not present. The British took far less casualties than the film indicated. Finally, there is no evidence the British sang "Men of Harlech" in response to the Zulu war chant (and if they had, it would have been to different words than the ones composed specially for the film).
The characters are interesting. Perhaps the one I found most interesting was Colour Sergeant Bourne. While he was not among the 11 men who won the V.C. in that battle, he did receive an eventual commission, which was almost unheard of for that time! Bourne is interesting because of the way he maintained discipline by keeping his cool rather than losing it. A glance or a steady words was all that was required. Of course I am left wondering if the real Bourne was that cool, or whether this was another historical fiction, invented for the entertainment value. As a side note, Chard received a Brevet Supernumary promotion to Major, making him the first man in the history of the British Army to climb directly from Lieutenant to Major without becoming a Captain. Bromhead received the same honour, but would have naturally received a Captaincy due to the previous disaster at Isandlhwana.
The film itself is entertaining, but is a curious mix of historical accuracy and artistic license. The cases says that it is based on a true story, and it is. But that doesn't mean everything in the film is true. The "actor" playing the Zulu chief Cetshwayo was the actual Zulu chief from the 1960's! The Martini-Henry rifles were authentic. Most of the characters were based on real people.
However, artistic license seems more important than truth. Private Hook, V.C. was portrayed as a petty thief and a drunk, when in fact he was a teetotler. Lieutenant's Chard and Bromhead got along fine, but the film introduced tension. Yes, Chard was not an Infantry Officer but he was the ranking officer because of the date of his commission, but the film indicated it was a couple of months when in fact it was 3 years. The Zulus are shown with Martini-Henry rifles when in fact they has muskets. Rev. Witt did escape the camp, but he was not a drunk. His daughter was not present. The British took far less casualties than the film indicated. Finally, there is no evidence the British sang "Men of Harlech" in response to the Zulu war chant (and if they had, it would have been to different words than the ones composed specially for the film).
The characters are interesting. Perhaps the one I found most interesting was Colour Sergeant Bourne. While he was not among the 11 men who won the V.C. in that battle, he did receive an eventual commission, which was almost unheard of for that time! Bourne is interesting because of the way he maintained discipline by keeping his cool rather than losing it. A glance or a steady words was all that was required. Of course I am left wondering if the real Bourne was that cool, or whether this was another historical fiction, invented for the entertainment value. As a side note, Chard received a Brevet Supernumary promotion to Major, making him the first man in the history of the British Army to climb directly from Lieutenant to Major without becoming a Captain. Bromhead received the same honour, but would have naturally received a Captaincy due to the previous disaster at Isandlhwana.
posted by Shawn Abigail at 10:14 p.m.
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