Zulu

He was standing in the checkout line at Border’s bookstore on Michigan Avenue. The woman in front of him, who looked to be about his age, was holding and reading a package containing the DVD release of the movie “Zulu”.

“That’s a darned good movie,” he said.

“It’s my favorite movie. I have the VHS, but now it’s just come out on DVD and I had to have it,” she said.

That ain’t no chic flick, he thought.

“I remember first seeing it on one of those big 70MM screens when I couldn’t have been more than 12 or 13 years old,” he said.

“Next in line, please,” one of the cashiers said.

She walked to the cash register.

He recalled they used real Zulu warriors in the filming. He liked the part at the end when the British soldiers thought the Zulu warriors had deserted the battlefield, but then appeared en mass on top of the hills. The Zulu warriors chanted what sounded like a battle song. The soldiers, completely surrounded and outnumbered, prepared for another assault until their guide and interpreter told them the Zulus were singing a song commending the British soldiers’ courage. The Zulus walked away without attacking again.

That ain’t no chick flick, he thought. He might have to buy one for himself.