Director: Jérôme Salle
Starring: Forest Whitaker, Orlando Bloom
Rating: 18
Running Time: 110 minutes
Availability: April 27th on DVD and Blu-ray
Having closed the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, the action-thriller ZULU had cumulated a lot of attention before its cinematic release and much was said of its intense sequence of shocking violence and monopolising characters, set in post-Apartheid South Africa.
French director Jerome Salle, uses the scars left by apartheid as a political subtext, in this violent cops vs. drug dealers shoot-em-up.
Although the main story is suppose to focus on Forest Whitaker‘s Chief Detective Ali Sokhela of Capetown’s Serious Violent Crime Unit, his onscreen time and character storyline of his work commitments, tragic childhood and personal tribulations are somewhat diminished. This is largely due to the character development and onscreen time of his deputy, Brian Epkeen (Orlando Bloom), whose loyalty and bravery are matched by his amorous exploits.
The film tells the story of a police captain, Ali (Whitaker) and detective, Brian (Bloom) who are working together to try and find the person who beat a girl to death in a public park. Between them, the duo are inwardly dealing with their own demons despite handling the pressures of the case – Ali’s upbringing still haunts him after seeing his father burnt alive by white supremacists and he himself also suffered serious physical damage inflicted at the hands of the white police.
Meanwhile, Brian’s father was a court prosecutor for the apartheid regime and burdened by guilt, his son has chosen to use his mother’s family name. He has become a hot-headed cop who drinks too much, sleeps with too many women, takes too many drugs, but proves to be a loyal ally to the police captain, with steely fists and excellent gunshot aim and despite his hardened persona, he does have one weakness – his family. Due to his capricious ways, his wife has left him and his son rejects him, but this does to deter other women who want his attention.
Despite their personal turmoil, their public park murder case proves to have more behind it than they first realised. The murder indicates the presence of a new and deadly drug whose identity is not yet established and the investigation leads to a beach ruled by thugs armed to their teeth. Things go from bad to worse as bullets fly, victims pile up and ultimately, there are maimings, shootings and all-out arenaline-fuelled chases for action-thriller fans to sink their teeth into.
Both Whitaker and Bloom are playing obstreperous characters and this shows, with them not having to stretch their portrayal of emotions in the movie, exuding nothing more than pursued, anguished expressions throughout and on occasion, it’s hard to believe how quickly their characters recover after some fearsome and toiling punch-ups.
Nonetheless, Whitaker’s deeply resonant delivery and Bloom’s meaty performance is well combined with vibrant-hued photography and superb location scouting. The action-thriller provides the right amount of emotional drama in this gripping, violent movie.
ZULU is available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray from April 27th.
Verdict
