Zulu (1964)
by Etienne Brule
After reading the reviews of the current crop of movies that the goyim-wranglers have
shoveled into our feed-trough this summer, I've decided to graze elsewhere - a lush green
pasture called Zulu. This 1964 British production, starring Michael Caine and
Stanley Baker, is a story of race war in its most basic and inspiring form.
Zulu is a dramatization of the Battle of Rorke's Drift, in Natal Province, South
Africa, in January of 1879. There, 140 British soldiers, a quarter of whom were wounded or
sick, fought off repeated attacks by more than 4000 Zulu warriors. The British, who were
armed with nothing more than single-shot rifles and bayonets, repulsed every assault and
every tactic the Zulus employed. In doing so, their survivors won 11 Victoria Crosses
(posthumous awards were not granted then).
Background...
The Zulus were the most powerful tribe of African savages that Whites ever encountered.
Unlike other Africans, they fought in large, disciplined formations with a reasonable
degree of order. This set them so far above the other Africans that it allowed them to
live by pillaging and enslaving their neighbors, then trading in slaves to supply their
remaining wants.
To achieve this degree of discipline, so rare among blacks, Zulu chieftains relied on sheer
terror. They typically started their reign by murdering their siblings and any other
possible rivals. From then on, the chief and his court held the unchallenged power of life
and death over his subjects. They exercised this power frequently -- one chief would often
start his day by having dozens killed before breakfast.
Amazingly, Zulu chiefs were even able to gain a measure of control over their subjects' sex
lives. Zulus were polygamous, but adultery was outlawed. To even be suspected of
transgression meant an immediate and painful death, and this served to keep it under some
control. The prospect of an immediate and severe punishment seems to be one of the few
proven ways of keeping the African's carnal urges in check. How many thousands of White
women have suffered the consequences of our forgetting this?
In the film, the 1879 Zulus are portrayed by the 1964 members of that tribe. Since few (if
any) of them had ever seen a movie before, the British producers had them watch American
westerns to show them what a movie was, and what they were expected to do.
Despite this training, Zulu is not Fort Apache with the Indians in blackface
and the 7th Cavalry dressed up in red coats. The 19th century Briton was a breed apart
from his American cousin. Unlike the latter, he was acutely aware of where he stood within
a clearly defined hierarchy, and exactly how far he could push things without crossing the
line. As a result, Zulu brims with insolence. I'll provide a sampling of it
throughout this review.
The movie...
Zulu begins with a mass wedding ceremony at a large Zulu village. Opposing lines of
hooting warriors and bare-breasted negresses shake their body parts at each other to the
accompaniment of drums and savage howling. Their chief sits in the place of honor, smiling
down on the barbaric rites. Smiling along with him is the Rev. Witt (Jack Hawkins), a
hopelessly liberal Swedish missionary, who has deluded himself into thinking these
Hottentots are his "flock." He has brought along his visiting daughter, Margareta (Ulla
Jacobsson), to show her what missionary work is all about. She is horror-stricken by the
savage spectacle.
The contrast between the brutish Zulu females and this fair Nordic maiden could not be more
striking. She is dressed in white from head to toe, in a long dress, gloves, and a wide
brimmed hat to shield her fair skin from the terrible African sun. Only her face and hair
are exposed, but these alone radiate a beauty that no African could hope to rival.
Soon, the festivities are interrupted by a messenger bringing the glad tidings that their
brother Zulus have just massacred a column of 800 British troops. The chief immediately
orders his warriors on the march to the church of the lunatic missionary, the one where
they are "parishioners." The British are using it as a hospital, and now it and its
garrison should be ripe for the picking. One of the savages makes a bee-line for
Margareta, but the chief has him killed to make a point -- "First slaughter, then
rape."
Back at the missionary's church, army life is proceeding at a snail's pace. The surgeon is
weeding malingerers from his sick call and the company commander is off on a small safari.
An engineer, Lt. Chard (Stanley Baker), who had previously been detached from the doomed
column, has press-ganged an unenthusiastic detail from the Welsh garrison into building a
bridge across a nearby stream. Returning from his hunt, the company commander, Lt.
Bromhead (Michael Caine), at first glance an insufferable upper-class snob, scolds Chard
for using his men without permission, then allows him to continue ("Do carry on with your
mud pies").
Then, the outriders of disaster start arriving. A survivor of the massacre named Adendorff
(Gert Van Der Berg) is first, bringing the news that the column and its 400 native
auxiliaries ("more damned cowardly blacks" -- Bromhead) have been slain. The two
Lieutenants, Chard and Bromhead, then compare notes and discover that Chard, the engineer,
has prior date of rank and is therefore in command ("Well, there are such things as gifted
amateurs" -- Bromhead).
The panicked missionaries soon follow. "You will all be killed!" Witt keeps shouting. "I
don't think so," replies Chard, "the army doesn't like more than one disaster in a day."
Bromhead continues the thought, almost as an aside, "Looks bad in the newspapers and upsets
civilians at their breakfast." Witt continues raving about what his "flock" are about to
do to them ("Are you sure you're on the right side of the river?" -- Chard). Finally, the
exasperated officer drives him out of the camp, while the missionary shouts his final
encouragement to the troops:
"Death awaits you! You have made a covenant with death and with hell you are in agreement.
You're all going to die!"
Zulu shows a fine understanding of the suicidally crazy White liberal, the type who
will argue, alternately, that non-Whites are our brothers, that it is evil to resist them,
then finally that we have no hope of defending ourselves against them. All of these
statements are false and, as in the movie, our first task is to rid ourselves of those who
preach these sentiments.
The preparations for battle get underway -- lookouts are posted, the chapel is converted
into a surgery, and defensive works are improvised using wagons and bags of meal. Here,
Adendorff proves invaluable. As a Boer ("the Zulus are the enemy of my blood"), he can
advise the British on how best to fight off "the Fuzzies." The rough preparations are only
just completed when the Zulus arrive in force.
Soon, the fighting begins, first with testing probes, then with fierce mass assaults. The
British hold them off with musketry and bayonets. At a few crucial junctures, they are
able to lure the Zulus into attacking previously prepared fallback positions, where the
British inflict ruinous casualties on them.
The movie occasionally shows the surgery, where Surgeon Reynolds (Patrick Magee) operates
without stop on his White patients while guards posted in the windows keep the Zulus from
killing him. This again illustrates that race war is like no other type -- no mercy is
expected and none is given. Only White lives are worth saving here, the only treatment
wounded Zulus receive from the Welsh infantrymen is a finishing thrust with a
bayonet.
During the course of the battle, many of the distinctions separating the Whites begin to
fade. Bromhead, the aristocrat, works with rifle and bayonet alongside the men he had
scorned as "damned rankers." Malingerers become heroes, fighting hand-to-hand in the wards
of the burning hospital. Wounded men struggle to assist those still able to fight. Hour
after hour, long into the night, the pitiless battle continues, finally subsiding before
dawn.
After daybreak, the Zulus form up for their final attack. They begin performing a war
chant, beating their spears against rawhide shields in unison, hooting along to this jungle
beat. One of the Welshmen, a singer in the company choir, remarks sardonically, "They've
got a very good bass section, mind, but no top tenors." Refusing to allow any challenge to
go unanswered, Chard orders his men to sing. The choir member leads his weary comrades in
"Men of Harlech," a traditional Welsh battle hymn.
Just as with the contrast between Margareta Witt and the Zulu women, the difference between
White and black music is extreme. As the scene alternates between the two lines, the
percussive thud of the blacks is answered by the soaring melody of the Whites; the dull
menacing drums of rap answered by Beethoven's Ode to Joy. The Welsh refrain echoes
long after the movie has ended:
Men of Harlech onto glory
This shall ever be your story
Keep these fighting words before ye
Welshmen never yield!
Anyone who is looking for an inspiring movie this summer, or any time, should watch
Zulu." It is a reminder of what White courage and tenacity can achieve, and that is
something we should never forget. Zulu shows what Whites have been, and can be
again, once we rid ourselves of the crazy missionaries in our midst.
ETIENNE BRULE
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OTHER REFERENCES:
Those of you interested in the events of the Battle of Rorke's Drift
should visit the following website:
http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com
The website has reports written by several of the survivors of the battle,
including the V.C. winners. It also compares events in the movie to those
which happened in real life. If anything, the film tends to understate the
courage of some of the soldiers.
Zulu is occasionally shown on the Encore network, and is available on
videotape, from Amazon.com. Buy it
here.
Do you have a comment on this review? Your own opinion about this movie? Send it
to :
arlmr@cableone.net
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