‘That is the Biggest Load of Bull****’ — Michael Caine Gives Strong Rebuke of Government Claim That Classic Film ‘Incites the Far-Right’

Mar 11, 2023 | Political News

Sir Michael Caine, the 89-year-old internationally renowned actor, has, according to reports, soundly denounced the characterization of his 1964 break-out film ‘Zulu' as a “key text” for “white nationalists” and “supremacists,” by the UK government, according to The Daily Mail.

The outlet reported that the war film starring Richard Burton and Stanley Baker alongside Caine, represents the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift, a key reversal in the Anglo-Zulu War. During the struggle, dramatized for the screen with some minor inaccuracies, 150 British colonial soldiers successfully held a hospital against 4,000 attacking Zulu soldiers, many armed with stolen British Rifles.

In February, the film was listed as a “key text” for “white nationalists” and “supremacists,” by the United Kingdom's highly controversial ‘PREVENT' program to as the name implies prevent domestic terrorism.


In an interview with The Spectator, Caine, who is set to turn 90 later this week, told Tanya Gold, “There are no films I wish I hadn’t made.” When Gold informed him that ‘Zulu' had been added to this listing, which according to Daily Mail includes comedies ‘Yes Minister' and ‘The Thick Of It,' and another war-epic the 1955 ‘The Dam Busters,', his answer was short and direct:

“That is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard.”

As reported by the Mail, “The list of works came to light following a major review into the £49million-a-year programme by William Shawcross, which warned that it had prioritised countering far-Right activity above tackling the prime Islamist threat.”

However, the outlet noted that it had imposed scrutiny on material that “falls well short of the extremism threshold altogether.”

Nigel Nelson reacted incredulously during an appearance on GB News and pointed out, “It actually takes ON the issue of racism!”

The sternest rebuke though of the UK's woke attempt to sanitize its history came from the 94-year-old Zulu Cheif Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a descendant of Zulu King Cetshwayo who portrayed his great-grandfather in the film alongside Caine.

Buthelezi told the Mail that the film shouldn't be interpreted through a 21st-century lens. He urged the critics to see past the view of Africans being depicted as “savages,” and instead praise the community's recreation of history.

“When we filmed Zulu, both black and white were recreating a part of history that held tremendous meaning for all of us. Rorke's Drift was only one battle.

It was preceded by Isandlwana, the greatest military victory of an African nation against the British, and it was followed by the Battle of Ulundi, where our nation was defeated and subjugated.

What followed was decades of hardship and sorrow. But the spirit of the Zulu nation remains unconquered, and we still thrive in 21st-century South Africa.

There is still a king on the throne of King Cetshwayo and millions of black South Africans still honour our culture and traditions.

Whenever that past is remembered it should always be a celebration of our ongoing fight, and victory, against division. That is worth thinking about, as that is the present-day context of the film Zulu.”

He had previously told the Times, “Even if the past is uncomfortable, and perhaps especially when the past is uncomfortable, it needs to be examined and unpacked rather than hidden away. Of course, race is a central theme in the film.”

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