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 "I myself consider myself the most powerful figure in the world." - Idi Amin
It was supposed to be a wild adventure in a far-off country, but when a naive young doctor arrives in 1970s Uganda - hoping for fun, sun and to lend a helping hand -- he finds himself instead on a shocking ride into the darkest realm on earth: the human heart.
This is the story of 'The Last King of Scotland', a powerful thriller that recreates on screen the world of Uganda under the mad dictatorship of Idi
Amin.
Deftly mixing fact and fiction and startlingly resonant with today's world, the film features a tour de force performance from Forest Whitaker as Amin and carves two unforgettable portraits: one of a charismatic but psychopathic ruler who ravaged his country and the other of a witness to history who finally finds the courage to make a stand.
It all begins as handsome Scottish physician Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), fresh out of med school, jets off to Uganda, looking for excitement, romance and the joy of helping a country that truly needs his medical skills. Soon after his arrival, Garrigan is called to the scene of a bizarre accident: Idi Amin, the country's newly installed leader, has smashed his Maserati into a hapless cow. Boldly taking the chaotic situation under control, Garrigan impresses Amin as brazenly forthright.
Already obsessed with Scottish history and culture, Amin takes an instant liking to Garrigan and soon offers him the unlikely job of becoming his personal physician.
 It's an offer so incredible, the doctor cannot refuse - and thus is started his odyssey to the inner circle of one of Africa's most horrific reigns of terror. At first, Garrigan is seduced by Amin's famously charming personality and ambitious plans for Uganda, not to mention the ruler's passion for fast cars, beautiful women and glamorous parties. As time goes on, seduced by his own desire for power, Garrigan becomes the dictator's confidant, consultant and right hand man, witnessing increasingly unsettling events - kidnappings, assassinations and unspeakable atrocities in which he himself may be complicit. Trapped in the moral abyss of Amin's murderous megalomania, Garrigan nearly loses his soul. But when he finally dares to try to stop the insanity, he winds up in a desperate fight for survival.
Based on Giles Foden's award-winning novel of the same name, 'The Last King of Scotland' is directed by acclaimed documentary film-maker Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, One Day in September) from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock.
With a cast that includes Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington Simon McBurney and Gillian Anderson, the film is produced by Andrea Calderwood of Slate Films, and Lisa Bryer and Charles Steel of Cowboy Films.
Shot in Britain and Uganda with the support of the Ugandan people, the rarely seen world of Idi Amin's Uganda is captured by a team that includes cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, production designer Mike Carlin, British Independent Film
award-winning editor Justine Wright and costume designer Michael O'Connor. Music is by Alex Heffes.
Malini Mannath |
