|
Film Reviews:
Seen any good movies lately? You can post a review below:
|
|
| | | Ian Thomson | 22/02/2007 13:11 | A few of the students from Bethel went to see The Last King of Scotland last week. The film deals with the Idi Amin regime in Uganda from the perspective of his (fictional) personal doctor and advisor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy). Nicholas, the rebel-liberal son of a stern, unfeeling Scottish doctor initially goes to Africa to help a Christian doctor and his wife in a field-hospital. A chance run-in with Idi Amin (Forest Whittaker) at a local political rally leads to him being invited to be the president's personal physician. From there he is ideally positioned to see into the intriguing and troubling character of the famed political villain.
The film is latest in a stream of films dealing with the violence of African politics, following in the footsteps of such classics as The Constant Gardener and Blood Diamond. Some fairly severe scenes of violence and occasional sex-scenes justify the 15 rating that the censors have slapped on the film. The violence, inevitable in a film like this, is sadly focused more on Amin's social circle...views of the atrocities going on in Uganda at large are very sketchy - Nicholas is largely unaware of the state of the country throughout the film. Eventually, though, his moral short-sightedness leaves him inextricably linked to the monster he comes to see Amin as.
A good film, especially as an introduction to the story of Amin's Uganda, but not for the squeamish!
|
|
|
|
