The Last King of Scotland - In the Clutches of Power

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Movie
German title The Last King of Scotland - In the Clutches of Power
Original title The Last King of Scotland
Country of production USA , UK , Germany
original language English
Publishing year 2006
length 121 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
JMK 14
Rod
Director Kevin Macdonald
script Jeremy Brock , Giles Foden , Peter Morgan
production Lisa Bryer , Andrea Calderwood , Andrew Macdonald , Allon Reich , Tessa Ross , Christine Ruppert , Charles Steel
music Alex Heffes
camera Anthony Dod Mantle
cut Justine Wright
occupation

The Last King of Scotland - In the clutches of power (Alternate title: The Last King of Scotland ; Original title: The Last King of Scotland ) is a political thriller by Kevin Macdonald in 2006. The plot is fictional, but is linked to actual events from the reign of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and is based on the novel of the same name by Giles Foden .

action

After graduating, the young Scottish medical doctor Nicholas Garrigan decides in 1971 to escape his conservative parental home and travel to the first country he finds on his spinning globe with his finger. His first hit, Canada, is not enough for him; he makes a second attempt and now finds Uganda , where he first tries to help the rural population as a missionary doctor. In a traffic accident, he happens to meet President Idi Amin , whom he is treating. He then convinced him to become his personal physician . Initially captured by Amin's charismatic personality, he became one of his closest confidants. He becomes part of the ruling clique around Amin, who celebrate their power in excessive parties and incredible luxury, and in the process increasingly loses touch with reality in Uganda. He initially vehemently defended Amin against accusations from foreign critics.

Garrigan initially ignores Amine's crimes. Only after the Minister of Health is executed because he is mistaken for a traitor on the basis of an erroneous tip does the doctor recognize the true character of Amine and his rule. Garrigan tries to leave the country but is prevented from doing so by Amin. In the event of a break-in, his passport is stolen and exchanged for a Ugandan passport. He turns to the British embassy, ​​but they refuse to help him leave the country. But the embassy offers him help if he kills Amin in return. Garrigan rejects this suggestion.

The doctor falls in love with one of the dictator's wives, who becomes pregnant as a result of the affair. The woman tries to abort the child, but is discovered and cruelly killed on Amin's orders. Garrigan tries after all to poison the dictator by exchanging his headache pills. Before Amin can take the pills, both are called to Entebbe airport, which - based on the historic Air France hijacking of 1976 - is the scene of international passengers being taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists. It is here that the poisoned pills are discovered by Amin's suspicious security chief. Garrigan is now to be tortured to death on Amin's orders. Amin has two hooks stick through the skin on his chest and hang him up. With the help of a Ugandan doctor who wants him to tell the world the truth about Amin, Garrigan manages to escape. This becomes possible after the hostages are divided into Israelis and non-Israelis at Amin's suggestion, in order to release the latter as a gesture of goodwill towards the negotiators of the kidnappers. Garrigan manages to mingle with the group of released passengers and fly out with them. After his escape is discovered, the Ugandan doctor is shot dead on the spot by Amin's security forces.

In the credits, the film informs about the fact that Amin's regime fell victim to 300,000 Ugandans, and about Amin's further fate, who was overthrown in 1979 and died in exile in 2003 .

Film music

  1. Toko - Momo change
  2. Nakawunde - Percussion Discussion Africa
  3. Idi's Story (from "The Last King of Scotland") - Orchestra
  4. Afro Disco Beat - Tony Allen
  5. Save Me - ET Mensah & The Tempos Band
  6. Ambush (from "The Last King of Scotland") - Orchestra
  7. Me And Bobby McGee - Angela Kalule
  8. Kasongo - Afrigo band
  9. Fever - I. Jingo
  10. The Bonnie Banks O 'Loch Lomond - Nyzonza Singers
  11. Bukom Mashie - Oscar Sulley
  12. Press Conference (from "The Last King of Scotland") - Orchestra
  13. Love Is You - Ofo The Black Company
  14. Getting the Evil of Nicolas (from "The Last King of Scotland") - Orchestra
  15. On the Runway (from "The Last King of Scotland") - Orchestra
  16. Down Over Lake Victoria (from "The Last King of Scotland") - Orchestra
  17. Acholi Pot Song - Ndere Dance Troupe
  18. Voice of the Forgotten (from "The Last King of Scotland") - Kawesa

Reviews

English language reviews

Todd McCarthy wrote in Variety of September 7, 2006: “At the end of the day, The Last King of Scotland does a lot better in the quiet and amusing passages than it tries to evoke anger and outrage. (In the end, 'The Last King of Scotland' is much better when it plays it cool and amusing than when it tries to ramp up outrage and indignation.) "

Ruthe Stein in the San Francisco Chronicle , October 6, 2006: “ When you finally see the recordings of the real Amin, then it is downright shocking to what extent Whitaker has transformed into him. (When clips of the real Amin are shown at the end, it's almost shocking to realize the extent to which Whitaker has become him.) "

Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone magazine on September 28, 2006 that the portrayal of Forest Whitaker was " powerful ", " thunderous " and " colossal " and deserved an Oscar . The script allows the viewer to identify with Nicholas Garrigan.

German-language reviews

film-dienst wrote: “ The film, which is not entirely convincing in the drawing of the main character, develops qualities as a political thriller, above all through the excellent play by Forest Whitaker, who makes the dictator as changeable as it is demonic. "

Jörg Lau praised the great acting achievements of Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy at the time , but criticized that too many facets of Amine were left out in favor of portraying the drama about the young Scottish doctor, such as Amin's “ virulent anti-Semitism ” and “ his insane attempt to Islamize the country where only 15 percent Muslims lived by force. "

Manfred Riepe sees in epd Film 3/2007 p. 41 a “ reserved and yet ambiguous and precise imagery ” and describes the Whitaker drama: “ [He] gives the instinctive peasant cunning and infantile paranoia of the […] jumping jack dictator physical presence. Whitaker embodies the seductive charisma and companionable gentleness as believably as the latent violence of the monster ”. The hostage drama towards the end "gets under your skin ".

Awards

For his portrayal of the Ugandan dictator, Forest Whitaker received the Golden Globe and the Academy Award ( Oscar ) in 2007 - each for the best leading role. In 2006 he was in the leading categories for this role at the National Board of Review Award , the New York Film Critics Circle Award , the Chicago Film Critics Association Award , the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award , the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award , the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award , the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award, and the Florida Film Critics Circle Award . He also received the 2007 Online Film Critics Society Award , the National Society of Film Critics Award, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, and was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award .

Kevin Macdonald and Anthony Dod Mantle won the 2006 British Independent Film Award . Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, the film for Best British Independent Film and the screenwriters were nominated for the same award. Forest Whitaker won the Satellite Award in 2006 and the film was nominated for the same award. In 2006 Anthony Dod Mantle won a prize at the Stockholm International Film Festival for camera work . Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Best Picture and Screenplay were nominated for a 2007 BAFTA Award .

At the presentation of the 20th European Film Prize on December 1, 2007 in Berlin, Macdonald's film was represented in the categories of film , director , screenplay , camera and best actor ( James McAvoy ), but did not win any of the prizes.

The Wiesbaden film evaluation agency awarded the “ rating particularly valuable”.

Tobias Meister got for its synchronization of Forest Whitaker the German Prize for synchronous, the so-called. Synchronous Oscar .

background

The film was shot in the UK and Uganda . Its production amounted to an estimated 6 million US dollars . The film grossed approximately $ 17.6 million in US cinemas through May 20, 2007.

A special feature of the film is that it was shot on different film materials. The cameraman Anthony Dod Mantle worked with both 16 mm and 35 mm in order to be able to bring out the different "perspectives" on Idi Amin on a visual level.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release Certificate for The Last King of Scotland - In the Clutches of Power . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2007 (PDF; test number: 108 846 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for The Last King of Scotland - In the Clutches of Power . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ^ Critique by Todd McCarthy ( Memento from June 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Critique by Ruthe Stein
  5. ^ Review by Peter Travers
  6. ^ Critique by Jörg Lau
  7. ↑ Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden ( Memento from August 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Filming locations for The Last King of Scotland
  9. ↑ Box office results for The Last King of Scotland
  10. ↑ Mark Kügle: The Last King of Scotland . In: Richard Laufner, Andreas Kirchner, Matthias Michel (eds.): The eleventh Marburg camera award . Marburg 2001, p. 38-39 .