The Last King of Scotland (film)

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The Last King of Scotland
File:The Last King of Scotland.jpg
Teaser poster for The Last King of Scotland
Directed byKevin MacDonald
Written byNovel:
Giles Foden
Screenplay:
Peter Morgan
Jeremy Brock
StarringForest Whitaker
James McAvoy
Kerry Washington
Simon McBurney
and
Gillian Anderson
CinematographyAnthony Dod Mantle
Edited byJustine Wright
Music byAlex Heffes
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
September 27, 2006 (USA) (limited)
January 12, 2007 (UK)
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$6 million
For the novel, see The Last King of Scotland.

The Last King of Scotland is an award-winning 2006 film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name. It was adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock and directed by Kevin MacDonald. The film was a co-production between companies from the United States and the United Kingdom, including Fox Searchlight Pictures and Film4.

The Last King of Scotland tells the fictional story of Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scottish doctor who travels to Uganda and becomes the personal physician to the dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker).

Plot

Young Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) heads to Uganda seeking adventure and escape from the bourgeois life of his parents. He works in a small clinic in the countryside with Dr. Merrit (Adam Kontz) and his wife, Sarah (Gillian Anderson). At the time of Garrigan's arrival, General Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) leads a coup against current president Milton Obote. Enamored by Amin's populist and egalitarian rhetoric, Garrigan is soon seduced into accepting the position of Amin's personal physician following a chance meeting on a country road. Amin welcomes Garrigan into his personal confidences quickly, asking for advice on state matters and gifting Garrigan with a comfortable living and a new Mercedes.

Now entrenched in a lifestyle far removed from the impoverished countryside he first came to Uganda to serve, Garrigan's heroic image of Amin begins to fall apart. He detests the local English officials for their vestigial imperialistic bigotry, yet he cannot reconcile this hatred with the brutal images of violence and oppression enveloping the country around him. Eventually, Garrigan resolves to flee for Scotland. Amin refuses to let him leave, explaining that Garrigan has become his most beloved advisor, and confiscates his passport.

Garrigan, meanwhile, has an affair with one of Amin's wives, Kay (Kerry Washington), and impregnates her. While seeking an abortion in a nearby village, Kay is caught, executed, and mutilated. Kay's brutal execution convinces Garrigan to attempt to assassinate Amin.

Soon after, a hijacked Air France aircraft lands at Entebbe International Airport seeking asylum for the Palestinian hijackers on board. Amin, Garrigan, and other state officials rush to the airport to handle the situation. Here, Garrigan's plot to kill Amin is discovered and Amin reveals he is aware of the affair between Kay and Garrigan. Amin orders Garrigan beaten and tortured, but Garrigan is eventually rescued by a Ugandan colleague, Dr. Junju (David Oyelowo), who offers his help (and ultimately his life) in exchange for Garrigan's promise to return to Europe and tell the world the truth about Idi Amin. Garrigan sneaks aboard a plane with a group of released hostages, leaving behind a furious, but poignantly heartbroken Amin.

Release

The Last King of Scotland received a limited release in the United States on September 27 2006, with a UK release on January 12 2007, a French release on February 14 2007, and a German release on March 15 2007.

The film was released on DVD in North America on April 17, 2007.

Reception

Academy Awards record
1. Best Actor (Forest Whitaker)
Golden Globe Awards record
1. Best Actor - Drama (Forest Whitaker)
BAFTA Awards record
1. Best British Film
2. Best Actor (Forest Whitaker)
3. Best Adapted Screenplay

Whitaker received considerable critical acclaim for his performance as dictator Idi Amin in the film, winning the Best Actor award at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTAs, in addition to awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review and many other critics awards, for a total of at least 23 major awards, with at least one more nomination.

The film received a 2007 BAFTA Award for Best British Film. It also received BAFTA awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best British Film, in addition to receiving nominations for Best Supporting Actor (James McAvoy) and Best Film.

Historical accuracy

Garrigan is a fictional character, but his story is very loosely based on events in the life of English-born Bob Astles. Like the novel on which it is based, the film mixes fiction with real events in Ugandan history to give an impression of Amin and Uganda under his totalitarian rule. While the basic events of Amin's life are followed, the film often departs from actual history in the details of particular events.

The film condenses the time frame of real events. For example, Amin expelled the Indians and South Asians in 1972, and the airplane hijacking took place in 1976, but in the film they appear to take place closer in time.

Many of the Ugandan landmarks seen in the movie did not exist in the 1970s.


See also

External links

Interviews

Reviews

Preceded by
n/a
 Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film
2006 		Succeeded by
n/a
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