It's all in the build up

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 2010)

It's always interesting to watch a war film about a battle you don't see in excess, such as any battle in Vietnam or World War II. Zulu focuses on the battle of Isandlhwana, where 139 Welsh soldiers defended against a massive attack of 4000 Zulu soldiers. It doesn't have the most robust cast, yet I couldn't help but smile when I saw the words "introducing Michael Caine" in the opening credits. Caine seems to be given all the credit in this film when ironically he plays one of the smaller roles. Nevertheless, Caine and the rest of the cast and crew do a great job at making this an intense and exciting film.
This film's main strategy is employing build up to the greatest effect. It begins with the introduction of all the key characters and their relationships with one another. The setting and characters are established amidst the preparation for the defense against the massive Zulu army marching towards them. There is a pleasant little vignette of characters present, all playing different roles in this prologue to the actual battle, which consumes about the last hour and a half of the movie. Most (but not all) of the main characters are military men. Others include the lovable and somewhat naive cook, as well as a priest who only seeks to settle this land conflict through peaceful measures. But if that were the case, how could we include such a riveting battle? Like I said before, this film is all about the build-up to the battle, and the tension is greatest right before the first confrontation. The pacing is excellent, and it helps to build up the anticipation for the massive battle we all know is on its way. Then, much to my surprise, the first confrontation with the Zulu begins and they don't even fight back. It is revealed that they are just testing the strength and aim of the British soldiers. After this brief hail of gunfire, we see that it was only a clever tease at whats to come. Shortly after, the Zulu warriors return and the real battle begins. From here, the film is what could best be described only as a cavalcade of gunfire. The fighting lasts twelve hours, so there isn't much time to let up when it is condensed into an hour and a half. Yet amidst the glorious battle, the film finds room for the characters we met in the setup to grow and change, even in a nonstop battle setting like this.
And then we come to the end of this epic war film which I interpreted in two possible ways. What happens could either be interpreted as a statement on the honor and glory of battle, or possibly a statement on the sheer absurdity and insanity of war. It would be more fitting with the rest of the film to be interpreted as the former, due to the fact that this film almost seems to glorify war to some extent. It is a very epic scale movie that beams with sweeping grandeur in its direction and cinematography. To interpret it as the latter would almost be a contradiction to what I at least think this movie exemplified, which would be the honor, courage, and valor of doing battle. Either way the ending is unexpected and very interestingly done. I can't help but give kudos.
Zulu is a film that focuses on nationalist pride in fighting for your country, so I can, for the most part, forgive it for somewhat glorifying war, rather than condemning it. I also usually don't prefer this kind of epic scale movie, but there was definitely something about Zulu I really enjoyed. Perhaps it was its more controlled setting, or the fact that parts of it unfold in real time. Whatever it was, it made me fully enjoy this exciting film.