Review of Zulu (2013) by Maksim B — 11 Aug 2014

Zulu is a pleasantly intense, mildly gripping and smooth-paced crime drama which explores the post-Apartheid South African society as well as the personal struggles of two dedicated to their profession police officers. Working also as a sort of reconciliation between societies and a road to forgiveness, this is a movie with relatively unpredictable story development, graphic visuals and realistic and tense performances by its two leading actors.

After the body of a white South African college student is found, beaten up to death, two detectives (Orlando Bloom & Forest Whitaker) are appointed with the official investigation. Each of them with its own past and current problems, they dig deeper into a case in which nobody wants to dig. With the reality of the South African streets brought to the silver screen, director Jerome Salle delivers an unexpectedly bleak crime drama which is not only an investigation with unpredictable story developments, but also a thoughtful and personal search for forgiveness and perdition.

The story development leads the audience from a drug gang investigation through a post-Apartheid conspiracy theory and a corporate-pharmaceutical crime. Even though the final part of Zulu may stretch the viewer's patience a bit further than necessary, Jerome Salle's delivery remains a movie mostly thanks to the two leading actors. If Forest Whitaker's performance is in line with the expectations for an actor of his level (also his role seems as if it was created exactly for him), the pleasant surprise comes from the raw, alcohol-soaked and self-destructive performance of Orlando Bloom. Normally attributed to being part of Hollywood's sweethearts, Bloom stuns with his on screen presence to such an extent that he almost steals the leading position of Whitaker.

As a whole, Zulu is one of those B-movies that deserve a far wider distribution and financial success that the limited release one. Captivating, with some imperfections, but still pleasantly good, it would satisfy those who are searching for a bleak, realistic non-Hollywood crime drama. Definitely a worth seeing delivery !