The 50^th anniversary of Cy Endfield’s’s 1964 epic movie Zulu fell recently, reminding us of the timeless quality of this British classic, which continues to resonate as a remarkable testament to peerless cinematography, script, acting, and direction.

Shot on location in South Africa in 1964, the movie brings together a who’s who of British acting greats – Stanley Baker, Michael Caine, Jack Hawkins, James Booth, and Nigel Green – complemented with a short narration by Richard Burton at the start of the movie, setting up the story with the kind of gravitas the historical event it depicts fully deserves.

Zulu recounts two days in 1879 during which 150 British soldiers and colonial troops successfully defended a small mission station, Rorke’s Drift, in the province of Natal against repeated assaults by 3-4000 Zulu warriors. The defence of the mission station took place in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Isandlwana on the morning of 22 January, during which a British force of 1800 troops was wiped out.

The achievement of the defenders of Rorke’s Drift in successfully repelling their attackers in the face of such overwhelming odds was recognised by the unprecedented number of Victoria Crosses – eleven in total – that were awarded for bravery in the wake of the battle. Clearly, it was an event ripe for dramatisation.

If movies can be said to reflect the times and societies in which they are produced, Zulu offers us a snapshot of Britain in the 1960s, when youth culture was born and words such as duty, deference, and obedience had been expunged from the collective vocabulary of a reborn working class, which for the first time aspired to more than the lives of drudgery and boredom that had been the lot of their parents and grandparents before them.

The issue of class is central to the movie at a time when a Labour Party devoted to public ownership and full employment was firmly in power, when the unions held sway, and when zero hours contracts remained the provenance of science fiction. The scenes involving Stanley Baker’s character, Lieutenant Chard, and Michael Caine’s Lieutenant Bromhead are superbly drawn in this regard.

Chard is the working class officer who by dint of hard work, talent, and merit has risen through the ranks to become an officer despite the disadvantages of his background, while Bromhead is the son of privilege, exuding the sense entitlement and status common to the British upper classes. However in the heat of battle, when all pretence and class distinctions give way to the more important issue of survival, their mutual antipathy morphs into respect and comradeship, wherein cooperation and collectivism supersedes competition and individualism.

The courage of men such as the recalcitrant malingerer Private Henry Hook (James Booth) is accurately depicted as a case of necessity rather than choice, as are the enduring traits of the British army – discipline, camaraderie, and trust in the man standing next to you.

Perhaps the most powerful scene in the movie is when the defenders of the mission station, bedraggled and exhausted as they await yet another attack by thousands of Zulus, respond to their attackers war chant with a rousing rendition of Men of Harlech. Though entirely fictitious, this scene more than any other describes the courage bordering on desperation with which the British troops at Rorke’s Drift must have resisted what seemed their inevitable slaughter.

Where the movie jars is in its depiction of the Zulus, reduced to a mass of out of control savages, their cause as a people whose land has been invaded and colonised by foreign troops not even alluded to much less told. Britain in 1964 was in the process of extricating itself from its remaining colonies around the world and as such still a prisoner of the dehumanising and racist attitudes that go hand in hand with colonialism. Those attitudes are reflected in the movie, though by omission rather than commission.

Ultimately, despite the courage of the defenders of Rorke’s Drift, brilliantly dramatised in the movie, the simple truth is they had no business being there in the first place.

The Living Wage is a wage rate set to ensure a basic but acceptable standard of living. It is currently set at £8.80 in London and £7.65 across the rest of the UK. Employers can become accredited Living Wage employers via the Living Wage Foundation.

At present, five million people in Britain are paid less than the Living Wage, 3 million of them women. To plug the hole in so many pay cheques, Government spends approximately £4bn each year on in-work support for low earners.

The Living Wage is increasingly seen as an important measure in addressing the crisis of low pay. Previous research has suggested that it could save the public purse £2 billion a year and boost nationwide income by £6.5bn a year. To date, over 500 employers are accredited Living Wage employers and thousands of employees have had their wages boosted as a result of successful Living Wage campaigns.

Today the Living Wage Commission, (a 12 month independent inquiry into the opportunities and barriers to the Living Wage, chaired by Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu) has presented an outline of how millions of workers could be lifted out of low pay through the voluntary take up of the Living Wage. According to the Living Wage Foundation this is the most comprehensive analysis to date of low pay, conducted over 12 months by leading figures from business, trades unions, academia and civil society. You can read the full report here.
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