The Last King of Scotland

For the longest time I couldn't figure out why the movie was called The Last King of Scotland. Every time I saw it referenced I thought it was a period piece starring Helen Mirren and Billy Connolly or something like that. When I learned that this was the film that Forest Whitaker won the Oscar for playing Idi Amin, I was like, "Huh?!" My knowledge of history may not be the best, but I seemed to recall that Idi Amin was in Uganda and not Scotland. The beginning of the movie didn't help matters by starting off at some boarding school in the UK. You'll be happy to know that after finally watching the entire film, I am no longer confused (well not about *that* at least!).

The film is the fictional account of one man's experience during the rise of Idi Amin in the 70's. James McAvoy, who's quickly becoming one of my favorite actors, plays a young Scottish doctor who travels to Uganda to seek adventure and escape the confines of his bourgeois upbringing. While working at a clinic in a remote Ugandan village, he serendipitously meets Amin when he is called upon to tend to him after a minor road accident. Amin, who has a bizarre fondness for all things Scottish, is impressed by the doctor and soon summons him to the capitol to become his personal physician.

McAvoy does an excellent job as the young, brash, and charming doctor who slowly starts to realize that he is in over his head. Despite his youth, he has a certain cockiness and charm that makes Amin's fondness of him both understandable and believable. He's quickly taken in by Amin's gregarious and generous nature and seemingly genuine desire to create a better Uganda. As political conditions begin to sour though, he is soon confronted with the reality of the unpredictable and ruthless man that Amin actually is.

As good as McAvoy is, however, Forest Whitaker takes the cake as the powerful and charismatic Amin. His accent, presence, and acting embody Amin, and his Best Actor Oscar was truly well-deserved. His slow transformation from lovable goof to paranoid tyrant is beautifully played by Whitaker. Even more impressive though, is that even though we see this transformation through McAvoy's eyes, Whitaker gives us many signs all along that there is a lot more to Amin that what first meets the eyes. I'm not sure how they got Whitaker's left eye to stay slightly shut, but the contrast between his one bulging and one shut eye is extremely effective in creating a character that can seem both endearing and menacing at the same time. This is a brilliant character detail, because I don't think Amin had this affectation yet it so elegantly captures his personality.

Though the movie was well told and directed for the most part, there are some techniques and scenes that really bothered me. Director Kevin Macdonald resorts to some quick fade montages that are quite annoying and seemed amateurish compared to the rest of the film. Similar to those were some quick-cut scenes where the images were moving so fast that I felt like I was watching Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire video but without the good music. (Though the African music played throughout the film *was* great!) They both struck me as lazy and/or poorly executed film-making and did detract a bit from my overall appreciation of the film.

There are some very violent and gruesome scenes in The Last King of Scotland, but they are in support of the story and didn't seem excessive or out of place. This is the second movie I've seen recently (Blood Diamond being the other one) that depicts the violence and genocide in Africa, and though I support its inclusion in both films, emotionally it is getting harder to watch.

I felt the ending was a little weak, and the footage of the actual Amin during the epilogue was unnecessary. I felt like the director tried to switch gears and make it more of a social and historical commentary. This is understandable based upon Macdonald's history with making documentaries, but it felt a little out of place to me. The story *is* a fictional account of factual events, and I believe that is understood by all watching the movie. I think it would have had much more impact had they played out the story a little more: It would have kept with the theme and tone of the movie, and it would have been a better tribute to the powerful performances of Whitaker and McAvoy. Many times I feel like epilogues are an excuse for lazy film making, not always, but here it *did* feel that way to me.

I think Macdonald has a bright future ahead as a fictional movie maker, but he must learn to leave his documentary past behind him and fully embrace the new medium. In The Last King of Scotland his documentary skills served him well in crafting a well-told, straightforward, and (fairly) historically-accurate story, but also were what prevented him from creating a truly great movie.


The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Starring: Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy
Directed by: Kevin Macdonald

(5 out of 7 skinks)