‘The Last King of Scotland’ is a film based on the novel by Giles Foden directed by Kevin Macdonald, which gives us an idea about Idi Amin’s regime (1971-1979) in postcolonial Uganda, in Africa. The main characters are Idi Amin, marvelously played by Forest Whitaker and Nicholas Garrigan, remarkably performed by James McAvoy.
The film portrays the cruel yet charismatic personality of the dictator who employs the Scottish Doctor Garrigan as his personal physician. Weak Nicholas Garrigan is seduced by Amin’s charm and at first he is unwilling to see the atrocities the dictator commits. Despite Garrigan’s ambivalent morality and lack of courage, he eventually recognises Amin’s brutality and tries to escape from him and leave the country.
Although some historical details have been modified to fit the plot, the film gives a picture of the dictatorial regimes that took the power in post-colonial Africa. These regimes were frequently supported by one of the superpowers, in the specific case of Uganda by the USSR, in times of the cold war.
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Nationalities
1 year ago
I must admit that I didn´t see the movie, but what impulses me to write was the description of the main character, the dictator Idi Amin. Charisma seems to be a constant characteristic of all the dictators, like in the cases of Hitler, Mussolini, Pinochet or even, Fidel Castro. They have this hypnotic attitude that atracts people and convince them, and then, they can become "the leader" who has lots of followers and supporters who are capable of dying for the cause.
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