There is something haunting about this min-series. When I first saw it, for some odd reason I felt like I already knew the story of Shaka. The way I already knew the story of Paul Bunyan or John Henry or even Pecos Bill. Moreover, I felt like I already knew Shaka, knew of his deeds; too horrible to mention in polite society. He represented some kind of mythic archetype that somehow takes up permanent residence in the mind. That of the Black Destroyer perhaps. But beyond that, he still represents something ambiguous and amorphous in African consciousness. Something that goes beyond the gruesomeness and the blood and slaughter and death that he represents with many to address in a very modern way the concept of nation building and the spirit that organizes states and cultures. Something, one is tempted to say, that goes beyond Good and Evil. Even though this is not a movie in the strictest sense of the word, I have to mention it here because Henry Cele's performance as Shaka stands up there with what George C. Scott did with PATTON, what Laurence Olivier did with HENRY THE FIFTH, or Denzel Washington with MALCOLM X, and yes, even what Robert Powell did with Jesus OF NAZARETH. I just want to go on record as saying it is one of the greatest performances of the Twentieth Century.Because it takes ten episodes to tell his story, one feels a catharsis exhaust itself that is very much akin to what one might experience in the Theater. First of all, you get to see Shaka from the perspective of the Western viewpoint and in that context, he is no more than the odd colorful token you find in many Western films. A cameo figure like Baby Face Nelson in O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU. But as soon as the viewpoint shifts to an African perspective, the enchantment begins for me. Suddenly I see people like my aunts and uncles and black men and women I have seen in the neighborhood acting and responding as I have seen them act and respond to dramatic issues in Life.Through it all there is Shaka, running from trouble with his mother and causing trouble with a vision that includes blood revenge and yet is curiously somehow beyond all that and is a reaching through all the narrowed eyed thirst for dominion through combat and conquest for a new, and as yet undefined reality better than the one that is to be lived. All my life I have seen men like Shaka, dark and lean, natural leaders who run bowling alleys or end up elite police officers or boxers or world champion martial artists or give lectures on African culture at our high school in front of their wives. The thing that became more and more riveting watching this min-series was how obvious it was that Henry Cele represented the original from which all the other versions sprang.The other thing that was refreshing was how most of Shaka's problems did not have the mythical White Man as their source. Instead, his troubles revolved around political tensions derived from difficulties he was having with his own people with regard to his ties to family and tribe and an apocalyptic prophecy of cultural devastation.At the end of this mini-series, despite all its flaws regarding continuity, one feels one has enjoyed the rare privilege of experiencing the epic sweep of a great life in both its grandeur and profoundly tragic limitations. But these are revealed as the limitations of humanity as well as Shaka's own. There is a moment at the end that felt like the spirit of the sixties, with people reaching out in both directions across the ocean to create a new understanding while not quite sure why they were doing so. There was that sense of being moved to create something larger than themselves. Something that would defy the degenerative process of societies and civilizations and the self-fulfilling prophecy of doom for nation states.The Spirit of Shaka remains a haunting and troublesome reflection. All I really understand about Shaka's mystique is that there was this gifted sculptress named Ruth Gowens who did many worthy terra-cotta sculptures of Black Folks in scenes of Southern and Urban Life. But when it came time for her to do a life size sculpture of some great leader, she did not chose Martin Luther King or Malcolm X.She chose Shaka.

To begin with, the entire first episode should be ignored! It is so laughable terrible that you can't imagine that it was written and filmed by anyone who knew anything about film making. Truly AWFUL wooden script combined with wooden acting and the soundtrack that was surely lifted from a bad Bert Bacharach L.P., although I suspect that I'm insulting Bert. I watched it in amused awe at the waste of film and beautiful scenery.I watched the second episode so I could boast that I had suffered and sat through, the most awful drivel of a movie, but was amazed as the story finally turned from the European perspective to the story of the rise of Shaka Zulu.It was the feeling of authenticity of the filming that dumbfounded me. It is so rare that a movie set in Africa captures (as I imagine) the sense of raw, brutal and naked power without flinching. It seems very, very real and I have to presume that it works so well because it is using the natural talent of real people who aren't acting. The movie almost becomes documentary at times and you realize that you are watching a believable movie based on a true story.Having said that, there is something slightly schizophrenic about the movie making which makes it one of the most bizarre movies I have ever reviewed but it deserves an eight because of the location filming with people who obviously believe and understand their own proud history.

Although the scenes of Zulu tribal life were rich in detail, there was too much emphasis on the rituals of the tribe. One might think that all the Zulu did was engage in constant ritual and unending festival. The storyline switches from the introduction of the English to the pre-birth of Shaka with little explanatory background. This was docu-drama and not a documentary, but a certain amount of geographical and historical reference to the rest of Africa might have helped. The most difficult aspect of this mini-series was the highly accented English of the performers illustrating the need for subtitles, which were absent from both the original production, and the DVD version. Perhaps if I had been able to understand the dialog better, the story would have been easier to follow.

I think this is, unfortunately, a unique series, showing history at least partially from a Zulu perspective, unlike similar movies like Zulu and Zulu Dawn. These movies show history from the colonialists' side and therefore leave a lot of questions unanswered. What were the political and social dynamics of the creation and rise of the Zulu kingdom? What were social relations and even every day like? This series goes a little way in addressing these topics, only a little, but a lot more than any Western television series or movie before it, which is what makes it unique. It wouldn't be misplaced in any modern (high school) class room. Henry Cele is great as the Zulu king to be, the music is great although basically Western, and the story would put any soap opera to shame. Realism is tops, with all the major African players being South African and it being filmed in South Africa. Where it falls down or slows, is when it goes to the more familiar narrative of the colonials, although Edward Fox is good, as always, as is Robert Powell. The series was of course also very topical, because even though it dealt with a war and struggle 108 years earlier, it was also about a fight for freedom and independence that wasn't won until 13 years ago and that is still in the process of being fulfilled.Recommended.