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A reason why it would not work
a.j


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 80
Location: Thornaby-On-Tees, Great Britain
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There is a possible reason why a remake of �Zulu� or �Zulu Dawn� would not work.

The reason is America. It can be argued that American audiences nearly always make or break a film. I watched the �100 Greatest Tearjerkers� on Channel 4 the other night and �Braveheart� was mentioned and film critic Heidi Parker said:

�Braveheart is one of the classic American tearjerkers because even though it�s not an American story it�s about a hero who has such a love for his country and such a love for his people�.�

I don�t think American audiences would go for a film about a nation which tries to steal other peoples countries and are then portrayed (as they truly were) as heroes. Even though �Zulu� was set in Natal, not Zululand.

In other words we would be portrayed as the 'bad guys' (in my own opinion), which we were not, we were just "following orders from higher up"
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GlennWade


Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 151
Location: Swansea
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Hi a.j.

Well, I think you 100% correct that such a movie would flop in the States. Making heroes out of the invader is a massive no no in todays film circles. The Four Feathers is tesimony to this, as is the recent 300. With the present global climate and the word 'invader' or 'invasion' appearing every day in the media worldwide, it's just not a clever notion. If the film makers attempted to display the ordinary soldier as the underdog, ' following orders from higher up ' as you put it, then I reckon it could work. It was the Tommy's job. As Tennyson so brilliantly put it ' Theirs was not to reason why, theirs was but to do and die '.

Personally speaking, I would rather see a film about Isandlwana hit the screens simply due to it's scope and drama. Rorke's Drift was heroic but it lacks scale today and 'Zulu' has already made it a household name. The characters are there, the re-enactors are there, the historians are there, the drama is there and the emotion is there. All it requires is some sound people in high places and all I can hope is that one day Mike Mann or Ridley Scott pick up a book concerning this awe-inspiring battle.

Whoah, off on a tangent there Shocked

Cheers mate,

Glenn Cool

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Tell it in England those that pass us by, Here, faithful to their charge, her soldiers lie.
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Rich
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Just to add my comments on both your posts....now don't forget the UK has a film industry just like the US. I'd think you'd get a better answer there along the Thames, in Cornwall, Yorkshire or the other "shires" on why a 'Zulu' war film remake hasn't been made yet. Now if it it doesn't get to be a hit in the UK where else could it hit the charts? If you're waiting for an US shop to do it I just think it would never come off. It just wouldn't be on the radar....the US as you know sometimes has "provincialitis".... Wink . And as for Ridley, I did read that he appears to be a big Peninsular War fellow. I'd be he'd do a bio-pic on Wellington in Spain first before setting his sights on Chard, Bromhead et al, you know?
Neil Bates


Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 13
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I always find it amusing that the Americans are so anti-colonialist when they are one of the biggest culprits!! There have not been that many films about the British Empire which is a shame - personally I would love to see a decent and true to the book version of King Solomon's Mines. That could be a hit at the box office!
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Rich
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Neil..on Her Majesty's Empire....there's a whole bunch....Lawrence of Arabia...Khartoum..Mountains of the Moon...Charge of the Light Brigade....Four Feathers..Gunga Din...Lives of a Bengal Lancer...A passgae to india..jewel in the Crown...Gandhi....Man Who Would Be King....Bridge on the River Kwai....Kim....The Deceivers..The Bounty.

The "Z" ones ..well they're a given.... Wink
Neil Bates


Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 13
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Yes. some of these are pretty good, but in the scheme of things I still don't think there are that many in relation to the volume of films produced on . say,'the winning of the west'. Also, I feel that a fair number of the more recent ones are anti-imperialist in an extremely simplistic way. The past is a foreign country as they say, and very difficult for the modern mind to comprehend. It is extremely tempting to judge history from our own standpoint, which has recently happened here with the 'pardoning' of men executed for cowardice in World War One. As an example of what I mean, one of the most unfair and annoying aspects of Zulu Dawn for me is when a parallel is drawn with Hitler's 'Final Solution'. Lawrence of Arabia and The Man Who Would Be King are two of the best I think!!!
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Steven Sass


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 18
Location: Milwaukee, WI USA
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Gentlemen,

From my point of view I really don't see Americans in general as being anti-imperialist. However I would bet that the majority of people who make the films in Hollywood are of that mindset. Therefore I guess it's a bit of a moot point as those who have the means to bring forth such a movie will probably not do so (or if they do, they may possibly portray the "imperialist" army as villians) regardless of American popular opinion.

As I'm sure most in this group understand that imperialism was generally not about simple naked aggression but in the Victorian mindset they were attempting to uplift people which they viewed as savages by giving them the gifts of Christianity and Western Culture. As Neal alluded to it is not easy for the modern mind to naturally commence thinking like a person did in the 1870's, as very little of societal mores exist in the same form as they were then. This however is something I must remind certain people who have a one dimensional view of imperial goals.

Moreover another reason why an AZW movie or remake of one may fail is simply unfamiliarity. In the States, unless one takes it upon themselves to search, or is fortunate enough to have a parent to direct one's attention to this history, very little is taught regarding such subjects in schools prior to University level. If anything, between the ACW and WWI (the running conflict with the Native Indigenous peoples notwithstanding), we're lucky to even get the story of the Spanish-American War. And if Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders had not captured the minds of the romantic and adventurous, I doubt even that would be a pit stop along the way into the 20th Century.

Again, just my two cents, or tuppence (the correct form was graciously pointed out for me by another member).

Cheers,

Steven
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Even if it is doubtful a 're-imagined' version of 'Zulu' or 'Zulu Dawn' will ever be made, I'd be very keen to read any drafts of screenplays that had been written about Isandlwana and/or Rorke's Drift in the hope of being made into a film.

Just to see what sort of vision the writers have for a new film about both battles - how they portray the main participants, the events of the battles, etc.

They'd be interesting to read, especially when comparing with actual books written about the AZW, since the making of both original films.

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A reason why it would not work
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