"Shaka Zulu" (1986) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

William C. Faure

Writer:

Joshua Sinclair (writer)

Release Date:

24 marraskuu 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

Actually, the movie begins and lasts mostly through the reign of George IV, the latter Queen Victoria incidents were classified as the "Zulu Wars". Shaka was dead by then.

Plot Keywords:

Zulu | Africa | South Africa | Impalement | TV Mini-Series

Cast

Edward Fox	...	Lt. Francis Farewell
Robert Powell	...	Dr. Henry Fynn / Narrator
Trevor Howard	...	Lord Charles Somerset
Fiona Fullerton	...	Elizabeth Farewell
Christopher Lee	...	Lord Bathurst
Henry Cele	...	Shaka
Dudu Mkhize	...	Nandi
Roy Dotrice	...	King George IV
Gordon Jackson	...	Prof. Bramston
Kenneth Griffith	...	Zacharias Abrahams
Conrad Magwaza	...	Senzagakona
Patrick Ndlovu	...	Mudli
Roland Mqwebu	...	Ngomane
Gugu Nxumalo	...	Mkabayi
Tu Nokwe	...	Pampata

Runtime:

300 min

Country:

USA | Italy | Australia | South Africa | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | UK:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company:

Harmony Gold

Trivia:

Based on Joshua Sinclair's own novel "Shaka Zulu", itself based on the oral tradition of the Zulu people.

Quotes:

Shaka: A man chosen to wield life and death on the battlefield must be an artist, if he isn't, he is simply a murderer.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Kirsten Dunst/Eminem (#27.19)" (2002)

Cautiously recommended!

This 9 hour mini-series is part soap-opera,part action-adventure epic.It is indeed a massive production and one can only marvel at the effort that has so obviously gone into re-creating the early 19th century in which the story is set.The film can basically be divided into 2 parts - the British/Zulu relationship and the birth and rise of Shaka.The British/Zulu relationship segments appear as bookends whereas the story of Shaka basically makes up the substantial middle.Performances,as usual in such TV productions,are mostly above average(though seeing the natives speak in English does jar a bit - the local dialect with subtitles would have been more appropriate).The political and social milieu of the times is well presented and no sides are taken.At the end of the day,however,one gets the distinct impression that the time taken to tell the story is much more than the substance in hand demands.