While Forest Whitaker's amazing performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland will undoubtedly and justly be nominated for an Academy Award, it's a little disappointing to think of the wasted potential of this new movie from director Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, One Day in September).
Try to imagine a semi-fictional film about Hitler where the horrors of World War II were told through the eyes of an imaginary Swiss doctor who became Hitler's personal physician, who got in hot water after Hitler found out he was having an affair with Eva Braun. In much the same fashion, The Last King of Scotland is told largely though the eyes of a fictional character, a Scottish doctor who travels to Ugandan hoping to help the needy, only to become Idi Amin's personal physician, one of his closest advisers, and eventually, the lover of one of his wives.
As much as I admired Whitaker's sinister turn as Idi Amin, I found the character of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) to be almost unnecessary, unless one thinks the plight of thousands of Ugandans cannot be properly understood and put in historical context unless seen through the eyes of a naive white man. It's possible that the movie would have been much more enticing if it had been told through Idi Amin's eyes, or from the perspective of any of the Ugandans who suffered through his bloody decade-long rule in Uganda in the 1970s, murdering upwards of 300,000 souls before fleeing the country in 1979 for exile in Saudi Arabia.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of The Last King of Scotland, is the fact that right up to the 1-hour mark, there's hardly any sign that Idi Amin might be anything more than a charming and benevolent, if somewhat eccentric, national leader who rose to power because he was a true "man of the people." Let's not forget that Idi Amin became the ruler of Uganda after a successful coup against Milton Obote, an unpopular president who had become hounded by reports of financial scandal and had installed himself as "President for Life."
Amin, a former boxer who had distinguished himself as a soldier even while Uganda was still under British rule, rose up the ranks and even enjoyed British support when he carried out his 1971 coup, deposing the nation's first ruler since it gained its independence from Britain in 1962. It is in this context that the fictional character of Nicholas Garrigan, who had originally hoped to use his medical skills helping poor Ugandans, is seduced by the charming Idi Amin and appointed personal physician to the physically-imposing ruler, who slowly gives signs of paranoia even as he claims dreams have told him he will die of old age.
Unfortunately, especially given Whitaker's remarkable performance, the screenplay doesn't provide much insight into Idi Amin's motivations, assuming it's enough to simply tell us he started out a very popular president before becoming, how do you say? Ah, yes, "unhinged" and eventually becoming the murderer of more than 300,000 Ugandans. It's also a shame, because The Last King of Scotland is reportedly the first film to have actually been filmed in and around Kampala, Uganda, one of Africa's most remarkable and unique cities. Many authentic locations were used in the movie, including the Mulago Hospital, the Ugandan Parliament building, and the Entebbe Airport, where a hostage crisis grabbed the world's attention in the late 70s. Amin would enjoy more than 20 years of comfortable exile after settling in Saudi Arabia, where he reportedly took four wives, 30 mistresses and at least 20 of his children.
Anyone wishing a closer look at the Ugandan dictator, without the fictional embellishments, might consider watching General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait, a documentary filmed by Barbet Schroeder during the early years of Amin's rule. It is available on a Criterion edition DVD.
"The Last King of Scotland" opens September 27, 2006 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Written by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock. Starring Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington.
