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| Zulu - the film which inspired UK and South Africa | Zulu - the film which inspired UK and South Africa |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| At the foot of a steep hillside lined with dry grass and littered with grey-brown boulders, Alistair Lamont was trying his best to imitate the sound of 4,000 Zulu warriors approaching over the ridge. | At the foot of a steep hillside lined with dry grass and littered with grey-brown boulders, Alistair Lamont was trying his best to imitate the sound of 4,000 Zulu warriors approaching over the ridge. |
| "Mzeeeeee," said Mr Lamont, in a gruff baritone, before confidently declaring that "was the sound that Michael Caine heard". | "Mzeeeeee," said Mr Lamont, in a gruff baritone, before confidently declaring that "was the sound that Michael Caine heard". |
| History and cinema have a habit of getting mixed up here at Rorke's Drift - a small village deep in the spectacular hills and gullies of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. | History and cinema have a habit of getting mixed up here at Rorke's Drift - a small village deep in the spectacular hills and gullies of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. |
| Historians may be right in asserting that 22 January 1879 was the date that put Rorke's Drift on the map. | Historians may be right in asserting that 22 January 1879 was the date that put Rorke's Drift on the map. |
| But how many of us would have remembered the ferocious battle that took place that afternoon, and the long night that followed, had it not been for Zulu - the vivid 1964 film that starred a young Michael Caine and is now celebrating its 50th anniversary? | But how many of us would have remembered the ferocious battle that took place that afternoon, and the long night that followed, had it not been for Zulu - the vivid 1964 film that starred a young Michael Caine and is now celebrating its 50th anniversary? |
| "It's a film about men behaving bravely," said Mr Lamont - a local tour guide - who acknowledged that most tourists who made the long trek here were drawn by a movie that "captures the sounds and the spirit this battle was fought in - with the bravery of men on both the British and Zulu sides. | "It's a film about men behaving bravely," said Mr Lamont - a local tour guide - who acknowledged that most tourists who made the long trek here were drawn by a movie that "captures the sounds and the spirit this battle was fought in - with the bravery of men on both the British and Zulu sides. |
| "Indeed an unmatched 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded to some of the successful defenders of the small outpost," added Mr Lamont. | "Indeed an unmatched 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded to some of the successful defenders of the small outpost," added Mr Lamont. |
| "I've seen the film a few times. My dad's obsessed with it," said a visiting British tourist, Paul Holcroft, last week. | "I've seen the film a few times. My dad's obsessed with it," said a visiting British tourist, Paul Holcroft, last week. |
| "It's the fact that so few British soldiers held of such a large number [of Zulus] - 139 against 4,000," he said. | "It's the fact that so few British soldiers held of such a large number [of Zulus] - 139 against 4,000," he said. |
| Tens of thousands of people - many from Britain - visit both Rorke's Drift and the nearby (and militarily far more important) battlefield of Isandlwana each year, to be guided through the history of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu war by Mr Lamont and his colleagues. | Tens of thousands of people - many from Britain - visit both Rorke's Drift and the nearby (and militarily far more important) battlefield of Isandlwana each year, to be guided through the history of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu war by Mr Lamont and his colleagues. |
| The Anglo-Zulu war | |
| Royal film star | Royal film star |
| The experience was pioneered by South African historian David Rattray, who was murdered during a robbery at his nearby home in 2007, and whose charitable trust now stands to benefit, along with Prince Harry's Sentabale charity and Walking with the Wounded, from the re-release of Zulu. | The experience was pioneered by South African historian David Rattray, who was murdered during a robbery at his nearby home in 2007, and whose charitable trust now stands to benefit, along with Prince Harry's Sentabale charity and Walking with the Wounded, from the re-release of Zulu. |
| The film - digitally re-mastered - is having an anniversary premiere screening in London this Tuesday. | The film - digitally re-mastered - is having an anniversary premiere screening in London this Tuesday. |
| "Michael Caine was a very shy young man. Not as outgoing as he probably is today," chuckled Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, 85, watching Zulu on a laptop in Durban and reminiscing about his own unexpected role in the film. | "Michael Caine was a very shy young man. Not as outgoing as he probably is today," chuckled Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, 85, watching Zulu on a laptop in Durban and reminiscing about his own unexpected role in the film. |
| Prince Buthelezi said the film's producers had come to visit him in 1963 to discuss hiring extras, but had suddenly offered him a role, playing his own great-grandfather, the Zulu King Cetshwayo - a key figure in the war. | Prince Buthelezi said the film's producers had come to visit him in 1963 to discuss hiring extras, but had suddenly offered him a role, playing his own great-grandfather, the Zulu King Cetshwayo - a key figure in the war. |
| "There was some hesitancy on my part. I didn't know if it would have political implications," said Prince Buthelezi. | "There was some hesitancy on my part. I didn't know if it would have political implications," said Prince Buthelezi. |
| But although the film was shot on location in the nearby Drakensberg mountain range at the height of racial apartheid, the set itself was "an oasis". | But although the film was shot on location in the nearby Drakensberg mountain range at the height of racial apartheid, the set itself was "an oasis". |
| "In a sense we forgot we were in this country at the time. Whites and blacks could mingle without any fuss. You might say it was a very small thing but for this country, which was so racist at the time, it was something of great significance for us," said Prince Buthelezi. | "In a sense we forgot we were in this country at the time. Whites and blacks could mingle without any fuss. You might say it was a very small thing but for this country, which was so racist at the time, it was something of great significance for us," said Prince Buthelezi. |
| "The film helped restore to pride about where we come from - about how our people resisted the mightiest army in the world at the time, even though we were poorly equipped with cow-hide shields and spears," he said. | "The film helped restore to pride about where we come from - about how our people resisted the mightiest army in the world at the time, even though we were poorly equipped with cow-hide shields and spears," he said. |
| That sense of pride is echoed by Mondli Makanya - a South African journalist, a Zulu, and a board member of the David Rattray Foundation. | That sense of pride is echoed by Mondli Makanya - a South African journalist, a Zulu, and a board member of the David Rattray Foundation. |
| "I saw the film as a child. It was the time of Rambo," he said, remembering the thrill of watching black South Africans on screen in Zulu during the apartheid era. | "I saw the film as a child. It was the time of Rambo," he said, remembering the thrill of watching black South Africans on screen in Zulu during the apartheid era. |
| "On that film you actually saw people who looked like you being triumphant. That's my memory of that movie - seeing heroes who looked and behaved like me," said Mr Makanya. | "On that film you actually saw people who looked like you being triumphant. That's my memory of that movie - seeing heroes who looked and behaved like me," said Mr Makanya. |
| But he acknowledged that the film is little known in South African these days. | But he acknowledged that the film is little known in South African these days. |
| "It would be a great thing right now to have some screenings here… because it's about a great South African moment - a moment everyone is still very attached to, and so for it to have more currency in the United Kingdom than in South Africa is a great tragedy," he said. | "It would be a great thing right now to have some screenings here… because it's about a great South African moment - a moment everyone is still very attached to, and so for it to have more currency in the United Kingdom than in South Africa is a great tragedy," he said. |