Morgan Bell
Kynaston
REVIEW: The Last King Of Scotland
March 21st 2008 23:45
Directed: Kevin MacDonald
Written: Jeremy Brock (Mrs Brown, Charlotte Gray), Peter Morgan (The Queen) and Giles Foden
Starring: Forest Whitaker (Panic Room, Phenomenon, Phone Booth, Platoon), James McAvoy (Narnia, Wimbledon), Gillian Anderson, (TVs The X-Files), Kerry Washington (Save The Last Dance, Ray, Mr & Mrs Smith, Fantastic Four)
In 1977, Time magazine called Idi Amin a "killer and clown, big-hearted buffoon and strutting martinet" . . . he was regarded as a comical and eccentric character, but has also gone down in history as a ruthless tyrannical despot and dictator who was a serious threat to the Ugandan peoples human rights and civil liberties. Idi Amin took power of Uganda in a military coup in January 1971 with his regime killing between 80 000 and 500 000 people up until 1979. In the first week of the coup Amin declared himself President of Uganda, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Army Chief of Staff and Chief of Air Staff with his grandiose self-appointed title becoming:
"His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular"
In The Last King of Scotland we see the rise of the crazy and frightening Idi Amin in his local Uganda from the vantage point of visitor Nicholas Garrigan (McAvoy), a doctor, freshly qualified from his schooling and upbringing in Scotland, a young white man seeking excitement, adventure and experience by volunteering his medical services to the poverty-stricken in Africa. Telling this story from the point of view of Nicholas is a stroke of genius as he is easy to identify with and makes an otherwise foreign story palatable to western viewers. Nicholas is naïve and optimistic and becomes personally involved with Idi Amin (Whitaker in his Oscar winning role) as his family doctor and advisor. This film shows how quickly and unpredictably the situation in Uganda escalated, the political pressures changing Amin from a charming and likeable General trying to help his people, to a paranoid and hysterical President desperately floundering and compounding bad decision with bad decision. Amins bad decisions are parallelled with Nicholas's bad decisions as be becomes more deeply embroiled in an impossible and explosive situation, accepting gifts and promotions from Amin whilst becoming increasingly involved in the plight of one of Amins wifes (Washington). Gillian Anderson is barely recognisable as his young blonde work colleague Sarah from the first half of the film, who is dedicated to treating the poor without becoming involved in politics . . . she looks younger than what she did at her peak of fame starring in X-Files . . . and her character provides a stark contrast to the somewhat self-motivated decisions of Nicholas. This film exposes an interesting piece of political history of a nation we mite not otherwise care to think about . . . and some of us are too young to remember . . . the characters are complex and well developed, and the plot is engaging, tension increases to the very end when Dr Nicholas Garrigan's fate is revealed . . . and how can we not be invested in McAvoys survival . . . he is after all Mr Tumnus the fawn in Narnia – The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe . . . .awwww . . . versatile actors are the most valuable!
Written: Jeremy Brock (Mrs Brown, Charlotte Gray), Peter Morgan (The Queen) and Giles Foden
Starring: Forest Whitaker (Panic Room, Phenomenon, Phone Booth, Platoon), James McAvoy (Narnia, Wimbledon), Gillian Anderson, (TVs The X-Files), Kerry Washington (Save The Last Dance, Ray, Mr & Mrs Smith, Fantastic Four)
In 1977, Time magazine called Idi Amin a "killer and clown, big-hearted buffoon and strutting martinet" . . . he was regarded as a comical and eccentric character, but has also gone down in history as a ruthless tyrannical despot and dictator who was a serious threat to the Ugandan peoples human rights and civil liberties. Idi Amin took power of Uganda in a military coup in January 1971 with his regime killing between 80 000 and 500 000 people up until 1979. In the first week of the coup Amin declared himself President of Uganda, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Army Chief of Staff and Chief of Air Staff with his grandiose self-appointed title becoming:
"His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular"
In The Last King of Scotland we see the rise of the crazy and frightening Idi Amin in his local Uganda from the vantage point of visitor Nicholas Garrigan (McAvoy), a doctor, freshly qualified from his schooling and upbringing in Scotland, a young white man seeking excitement, adventure and experience by volunteering his medical services to the poverty-stricken in Africa. Telling this story from the point of view of Nicholas is a stroke of genius as he is easy to identify with and makes an otherwise foreign story palatable to western viewers. Nicholas is naïve and optimistic and becomes personally involved with Idi Amin (Whitaker in his Oscar winning role) as his family doctor and advisor. This film shows how quickly and unpredictably the situation in Uganda escalated, the political pressures changing Amin from a charming and likeable General trying to help his people, to a paranoid and hysterical President desperately floundering and compounding bad decision with bad decision. Amins bad decisions are parallelled with Nicholas's bad decisions as be becomes more deeply embroiled in an impossible and explosive situation, accepting gifts and promotions from Amin whilst becoming increasingly involved in the plight of one of Amins wifes (Washington). Gillian Anderson is barely recognisable as his young blonde work colleague Sarah from the first half of the film, who is dedicated to treating the poor without becoming involved in politics . . . she looks younger than what she did at her peak of fame starring in X-Files . . . and her character provides a stark contrast to the somewhat self-motivated decisions of Nicholas. This film exposes an interesting piece of political history of a nation we mite not otherwise care to think about . . . and some of us are too young to remember . . . the characters are complex and well developed, and the plot is engaging, tension increases to the very end when Dr Nicholas Garrigan's fate is revealed . . . and how can we not be invested in McAvoys survival . . . he is after all Mr Tumnus the fawn in Narnia – The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe . . . .awwww . . . versatile actors are the most valuable!
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Last King of Scotland was a flawed but worthwhile film. I'm a big Whittaker fan so it was nice to see him get some attention.
If your interested you can read my review of the film HERE
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Damo