Cult of Personality
Last King Shows Charismatic Side of Dictator
"Based on actual events." I hate those words. I never know if the film I am about to see is truth with some fiction mixed in or fiction with a smattering of truth. In most cases, the truth is so mixed up so that it is hard to see. When I went to see The Last King of Scotland, directed by Kevin Macdonald, I fully expected to be bored by another docu-drama that failed to live up to its hype. Instead, I discovered a great dramatic story that helped shed light on an infamous leader.
Written by: Jeremy Brock, based on the novel by Giles Foden
Starring: Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, and Simon McBurney
Rated
(for
some strong violence and gruesome images, sexual content and language)Running time: 123 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 8 out of 10.
The Last King of Scotland, based on the novel by Giles Foden, is a fictional drama set against the backdrop of real events in Uganda in the 1970s. It details the rise to power of the country's infamous dictator Idi Amin, as seen through the eyes of a Scottish physician named Nicholas Garrigan (played by James McAvoy).
Garrigan is a young man, recently graduated from medical school, who flees his family and his father's practice to see the world. Fate lands him in Uganda at the end of Prime Minister Obote's regime, after the military (led by General Amin) overthrows the government in a coup.
Garrigan meets Amin when the leader visits a local village, and is soon offered a job as the president's personal physician. In time, he becomes Amin's "most trusted advisor," but discovers how tenuous such a position can be.
Based in part on Bob Astles -- believed to have been Amin's closest advisor -- the character of Garrigan is a study in culpability during unspeakable atrocities. The horrors that Amin committed during his eight-year reign are nothing less than barbaric. But the audience, like Garrigan, is spared most of it. Instead, we see what the young doctor sees, with a growing sense of dread.
Forest Whitaker, in the role of Idi Amin, is both magnetic and frightening. Amin's charm comes through, as does his ferocity. His portrayal is so intense, so charismatic, that it is easy to understand how people came to be under Amin's spell. His portrayal has earned him a Golden Globe award for Best Actor (in a Drama) and a Best Actor nomination at the upcoming Academy Awards.
The timeline in the film is a bit sketchy, and not all of the historical events happened quite the way they are depicted here. Nevertheless, The Last King of Scotland is a brutal, engaging film, filled with noteworthy performances. For those who like their fiction with a dash of history, this film is a real treat.
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