The Last King of Scotland

Kevin Macdonald, UK, 2006, 123 minutes

The last king of Scotland

Everyone wonders what to do when they graduate. Nicholas Garrigan is no exception, after graduating as a doctor he does not really fancy a life of dealing with old ladies in his father’s surgery in the middle of the Scottish countryside. Keen to have some adventure he offers his services to a clinic in rural Uganda where he can see the world, help people and get laid easily.

But in Africa nothing ever remains stable for long. The old regime is ousted by an upstart young general named Idi Amin who gains popularity by proclaiming himself a man of the people and that he will benefit the nation and stand up to the evil west.

Garrigan might have been the first victim of this policy but by happy chance the new dictator is a Caledoniaphile, with a son named Campbell and happy memories of serving with Scottish officers. He takes on Garrigan as a protégée, adopting him as his personal physician and enabling him to lead the life of riley in Kampala. This is lovely but there are mutterings that not all is well. Garrigan ignores the whispered hints of the British ambassador, the mysterious disappearances until it is almost too late and the web of deceit and evil in which he has been unconsciously complicit suddenly begins to close in…

Africa’s tragedies are too many to count. Garrigan himself is a kind of universal representative of the Euro-American world, enjoying the exoticism of Africa and his privileged position within it but ignoring, whether deliberately or not, the problems and his own role in them. He is a young and naïve man, not entirely likable but emblematic of the white western world, only recognising the need to take action when it is nearly too late and then being unwilling or unable to act. James McAvoy is excellent and someone to watch.

The real standout however is Forrest Whittaker whose deservedly oscar winning performance captures the paradoxes of Idi Amin, Generous to those he loved, a monster to those who slighted him and a clownish buffoon who would be funny if his grotesqueness did not carry such malevolent overtones.

There have been a spate of films recently looking at the sufferings of the so called dark continent and this film adaptation of Giles Foden’s excellent novel is a gripping look at one of the more horrible chapters of the post colonial past. A Heart of Darkness for the 21st century.

Review by Louise Oliver
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2007