The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)
by Kevin Macdonald
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DVD details
Actor: Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Simon McBurneyDirector: Kevin Macdonald
Brand: Fox
Producer: Allon Reich
Producer: Andrea Calderwood
Producer: Andrew Macdonald
Producer: Andrew Wood
Writer: Giles Foden
Writer: Jeremy Brock
Writer: Peter Morgan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; German (Original Language); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
Published: 2007-04-01
DVD Release Date: 2007-04-17
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: Forest Whitaker makes the movie
Summary: 3 Stars
Hearing about this film was the first time I had learned of Idi Amin. I became interested with him and did some research. I read "A State of Blood," written by Idi Amin's former Health Minister Henry Kyemba, and watched "General Idi Amin Dada," the documentary shot while Amin was still in power. With knowledge of who Idi Amin was and what he was like, I went into the film excited. I couldn't wait to see how Forest Whitaker portrayed him, and how the events would be depicted. What was my opinion? Well, unfortunately, I was disappointed.
For one, I don't see how Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor oscar. I'm not referring to his acting - that was fantastic! He portrayed Idi Amin as I imagined him from my research - a charismatic man who would win you over as a friend, then in an instant betray you without thought or emotion. The problem is, however, he's not the main character. That role goes to Dr. Nicholas Garrigan, the fictional character of the young Scotsman who Amin takes in as his chief physician. Nicholas not only has more screentime than Amin, but he is the one doing much of the action and moves the plot along. The Ugandan dictator pretty much takes the back seat to the antics of our main hero, and I agree with one reviewer that this film seems more about the folley of youth than the plight of the Ugandan people.
Some problems arise from this. Nicholas is an odd character. He's a goofy young college kid who earns his doctor's degree and then goes to Uganda just for the heck of it, sleeps with a woman he meets on a bus and hits on the wife of the doctor he works with. While it's believable that Amin may hire someone on the spot (Amin would promote his drivers to generals) the feel of the character is just all wrong. Actor James McAvoy seems like he belongs in a teen drama rather than a biopic about Africa's worst dictator. It's also odd how he goes from supporting Amin to hating him in split seconds. It's also funny that he seems completely oblivious to all Amin is doing - I cannot believe that Amin's ministers knew of his secret killings and actions (hence why so many were defecting or getting killed left and right) yet his personal physician would not have.
I also believe his character would have been more succesful as an observer to what was happening, rather than taking an active role. He regularly tells Amin what to do, chooses the design for a building, gets involved in intrigue with British (well, English) diplomatic officials, and is portrayed as the cause of Kay Amin's fatal pregnancy. Having fictional characters talk with real people is one thing, making them pregnant is another. (imagine an Abraham Lincoln movie where the fictional lead shoots him instead of John Wilkes Booth) It hurts the historic value of the movie, especially when it tries to do justice for Amin's victims. It also makes the opening title of the film ("This film was inspired by real people and events") a paradox.
In truth, I did not feel like I was in Amin's Uganda. So much focus was on Nicholas and not Amin and his actions. You see one clip of someone getting stuffed into a car's trunk by Amin's men, you hear about the Jinja barracks riot, he announces his intention to kick out the Asians from Uganda on TV, and you see the fate of Kay Amin, but you do not see Amin's killings and instead are told of them word-of-mouth from a British (well, English) official. There is a lot of myth surrounding the personality of Amin, and apparently the writers were so afraid of putting any in the movie that they kept to the bare bones. Watch a documentary on Idi Amin and you'll probably get more information on what he did than this film shows.
Actually, the final sequence in the film (involving the Entebbe scandal) is the most bizarre. Entebbe happened from July 27 to July 4, yet the movie makes it seem like it happens within 3 days. In one day the Palestinians land at the airport, Amin addresses them, Dora Bloch is sent to the hospital, and non-Israeli hostages are released - the end credits later say that 48 hours later the Israelis freed the hostages. (uh...what?) To top it off, Amin has his men torture Nicholas right there at the airport, with lots of international witnesses and the international press nearby. His men then, for some bizarre reason, leave Nicholas alone right there in the open where any one could see him - apparently because they thought they'd have a drink before killing him. (don't they do that in Bond films?) What happened to killing someone and feeding them to the crocodiles, or making it look like an accident?
On a final note, the directing by Kevin Macdonald is erratic and at times annoying. Any time Amin does something with his hand there's a zoom in: beats his chest, zoom in; points his finger, zoom in; taps his forehead, zoom in. Many scenes involving action or tension involve random close ups and shaky cam - which I really, really hate. When something happens you expect that the audience would want to understand what's going on, but ever since "The Blair Witch Project" and "The Bourne Identity" it seems like directors think audiences want the movie to enduce vomit. Some of the more artsy sequences are hit and miss: the sequence where Nicholas learns of Amin's mass killings was well done, but the sequence where Amin announces on TV that the Asians are being expelled plays like something from a sci-fi movie.
"The Last King of Scotland" is not necessarily a bad film - it can be enjoyed as a one-time viewing, in fact it should be watched so that it can be proved that Forest Whitaker has been the most underrated actor for the past few decades. It is, however, not the great shining film of the year as so many critics made it out to be. It may have been a goal to tell the true story of Amin and the horrors of his regime, but it turns into a story of foolish youth and another chance to stick it to the British. (well, English)
Description of The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)
LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - DVD MovieAs the evil Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker gives an unforgettable performance in The Last King of Scotland. Powerfully illustrating the terrible truth that absolute power corrupts absolutely, this fictionalized chronicle of Amin's rise and fall is based on the acclaimed novel by Giles Foden, in which Amin's despotic reign of terror is viewed through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a Scottish doctor who arrives in Uganda in the early 1970s to serve as Amin's personal physician. His outsider's perspective causes him to be initially impressed by Amin's calculated rise to power, but as the story progresses--and as Whitaker's award-worthy performance grows increasingly monstrous--The Last King of Scotland turns into a pointed examination of how independent Uganda (a British colony until 1962) became a breeding ground for Amin's genocidal tyranny. As Whitaker plays him, Amin is both seductive and horribly destructive--sometimes in the same breath--and McAvoy effectively conveys the tragic cost of his character's naiveté, which grows increasingly prone to exploitation. As directed by Kevin Macdonald (who made the riveting semi-documentary Into the Void), this potent cautionary tale my prompt some viewers to check out Barbet Schroeder's equally revealing documentary General Idi Amin Dada, an essential source for much of this film's authentic detail. --Jeff Shannon
Beyond The Last King of Scotland
 More from Forest Whitaker |  General Idi Amin Dada |  The Last King of Scotland (Paperback) |
Stills from The Last King of Scotland
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