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.
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