Dir. Kevin Macdonald, US/UK, 2006, 121 mins
Cast: Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, David Oyelowo, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson
Review by Hemanth Kissoon
It is 1970s Scotland and McAvoy is Nicholas Garrigan, a newly qualified doctor who dreads turning into his hum-drum father. So he spins a globe in his bedroom and leaves for Uganda. He has a fling with a local on the way and almost sleeps with Sarah Merrit (Anderson), the wife of a doctor he is working with in a make-shift hospital. (Could this be a reference to imperialism in Africa?) There is a military coup and Idi Amin is welcomed into power by the population tired of corruption. In a chance encounter Garrigan impresses the new leader and becomes his personal physician and is sucked into the ostensibly alluring politics of Uganda.
The film is extremely colourful with a gorgeous palate that belies the horrors that are coming and arrive. There are lots of vibrant yellows, browns and reds that hide a tragic undercurrent on a personal and national level. Director Macdonald has made a seamless transition from documentary to fiction. Touching the Void was a gripping account; admirably so, considering the audience know the two survive. Here, he brings his ability with creating and sustaining tension.
The other big plus is in the casting and acting stakes. Much has been made of Whitaker’s magnetic and credible turn. Having the talents of Oyelowo (as the doctor at the head of the capital’s hospital) and Anderson in the smaller parts prevent the characters being swamped by the two main roles. Washington, already making waves in Spike Lee’s She Hate Me and Ray, is here mysterious, vulnerable and alluring in equal turns as one of his wives, though some of her actions strain plausibility.
While the main characters are rounded they lack adequate scrutiny. A more interesting study is Garrigan, someone whose influence is limited back at home but here he has the ear of a leader. The corrupting influences of power, fame and sex are deftly shown. He is clearly a metaphor for Western misguidance/greed/indifference.
Unfortunately, The Last King of Scotland has neither depth of characterisation nor enough thoughtfulness on the Ugandan-Idi Amin situation. While Whitaker is mesmerising there is no satisfying psychological analysis. The Last King of Scotland is a snap-shot of Amin’s life from the perspective of Garrigan but reveals superficial details: he was charismatic, he committed mass-murder, he was paranoid and he was spoilt. This is nothing surprising to any of the audience who is interested in politics or history.
There has been a spate of films recently involving Africa. Even US super-drama E.R. has had strong storylines dealing with the continent focusing (obviously) on the health crises, and the civil wars. Yet to be released indie portmanteau Three Needles tackles AIDS with a triumvirate of stories from Canada, China and South Africa. Then there are the political would-be eye-openers: The Constant Gardener (the intertwining of corporate and governmental atrocity), Hotel Rwanda and Shooting Dogs (genocide), and Catch a Fire (apartheid). Then there are the genre movies that entertain while shining a light on human frailty: Stander (heist), Black Hawk Down (action), Tears of the Sun (war), Lord of War (crime) and Blood Diamond (thriller). Let’s also not forget Tsotsi’s look at South African poverty and lawlessness. The continent is topical, with human misery still at the fore for so many. Has it been tackled to really great effect by Hollywood yet? Arguably not, unfortunately; though hunt out distributor-free What a Wonderful World, a dream-like vision of modern Casablanca.
