Mar 02, 2007 02:26 PM
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(Updated Mar 03, 2007 09:12 AM)
Most of us have heard of Idi Amin, even though his fame, or infamy, burned bright in times that most of us weren’t even born. So tell me something…a man who despotically ruled Uganda for 9 years, who supposedly killed 300,000 of his own citizens, who was even rumored to be a cannibal and enjoy human flesh, a man who engaged in ethnic cleansing and expelled nearly 50,000 Indians from his country…..can you picture such a man as remotely likeable? Well, the director of this movie certainly does!
DIRECTOR- Kevin MacDonald.
CAST- Forest Whitaker (Panic Room), James McAvoy (Chronicles of Narnia).
PLOT- The time is 1970. A young Scotsman Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) decides to rebel against his destiny (of being a family doctor in Scotland) and travel to some remote part of the world and do missionary work. The place he picks is Uganda….a country that is going through political unrest, where the government headed by Obote has just been overthrown by a virtually unknown military dictator, Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). Nicholas starts out doing good work, helping the starving, sick population in Uganda with his medical services. But one day, fate throws him into the path of Idi Amin. The eccentric Idi Amin is so impressed with the young doctor (and his Scottish origins) that Nicholas is soon appointed as the personal physician of the President.
Initially, they form a mutual admiration society. Idi Amin is at his charming best, claiming to be a man of the people, providing hope to his citizens for a better government. He is very warm and affectionate with Nicholas, displaying a great sense of humour, gifting Nicholas with expensive cars, being indulgent with him like a father would be. He trusts Nicholas to the extent of calling him his trusted, most, “closest advisor”. Nicholas looks upto Idi Amin as a man who will fight the imperialist British presence in Uganda, take Uganda to the prosperity that other African nations have not been able to achieve.
As time goes by, Idi Amin’s charming façade starts to crack just a bit. Idi Amin engages in ethnic cleansing, and orders all the Indian population out of Uganda in 90 days. When an attempt on his life is made, he starts getting suspicious of the people who work for him. He starts killing everyone who dares to protest against him, including his former close advisor, the health minister of Uganda. Nicholas slowly starts emerging from the spell cast on him by Idi Amin, and starts seeing him for who he really is. Also, Nicholas falls in love with one of Idi Amin’s wives (Amin had 4 wives and 30 mistresses!) Kay Amin (Kerry Washington). When Kay gets pregnant, and Idi Amin finds out about the affair, that’s when all hell breaks lose.
Watch the movie to find out what happens next!
MY TAKE- “The Last King….” is an entertaining movie, mainly because Idi Amin has long been portrayed by the media as a “nutty”, charismatic, albeit blood thirsty despot. This movie does nothing to dispel that illusion.The focus is more on the charismatic, eccentric personality of Amin, than on his bad deeds.
It also highlights how, despite the huge hoard of wives, children, personnel surrounding him, he was essentially a lonely man and not much liked by his loved ones. Which is why, when he chances upon young Nicholas Garrigan and senses he’s found someone who genuinely admires him, he latches onto him and refuses to let him go. There is a hilarious scene where the doctor is summoned by Amin to find Amin writhing with pain in bed. Turns out Amin has an acute case of gas, and the resourceful doctor finds quite an innovative method to get rid of it. Amin bursts into warm chuckles of laughter after, and you fall in love with a man who has just let out unmentionable sounds and uh….emissions! You see what’s happening here….this movie makes you LIKE, empathize, and even feel sorry for Idi Amin…that, to me, is the biggest flaw, and strength of the movie.
Forest Whitaker deserves the Oscar, no doubt about that. He gets the accent right, the personality right, and despite being even uglier than the real Amin, he even manages to be attractive….all thanks to great acting skills! James McAvoy is good, but not extraordinary. As long as he plays a young, impressionable, under Amin’s spell doctor, he gets it right. In the second half of the movie, he disappoints a bit.
Watch this movie and fall under Amin’s spell…but remember…this is just a movie. We don’t want anymore Idi Amins inhabiting this planet, no matter how charming they appear to be!
