Practically a cult
classic, CyEndfield’s 1964 colonial war adventure adds a different
dimension to the war genre, while still rehearsing the elements that
make war films so popular: heroism under fire. Hugely outnumbered, a
small garrison of British soldiers stationed in South Africa defend
themselves and the Empire against the Zulus at the Battle of Rorke’s
Drift in 1879, winning 11 VCs in the process. ‘A film which comes
with two heavy strikes against it: it was made during the ’60s boom
for epic adventures in exotic climes (which now look like a breed of
cinematic dinosaur), and it recounts one of those heroic tales of the
thin red line holding out against hordes of fuzzy-wuzzies that
endlessly fuelled Boy’s Own’ (Time
Out).
The British Institute
Lungarno Guicciardini, 9
Tel. 055/26778270
