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Doctor, heal thyself

A young man comes under the sway of a dangerous clown
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By Steffen Silvis
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
February 14th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Whitaker, Anderson and McAvoy in the heart of a Ugandan darkness.
Among the rogues’ gallery of tin-pot tyrants of the 20th century, Idi Amin holds a special place in the imagination as a lethal buffoon. His crimes, occasionally over-upholstered for dramatic effect, were as monstrous as his appetites, and his reign still haunts a much poorer Uganda today.
His story charts the usual progress of African coups, where newly coined corruptions breed squalor and lawlessness. Amin was the classic new leader, straight from the ranks of the military but freshly garbed in all the jackal pomp of state. He spun all the usual Tomorrowland fantasies for the impoverished Ugandans, who at first welcomed his ascent. Yet, typically, the fictive scenarios of his own propaganda and PR began to infect him with a frothing narcissism.
Based on Giles Foden’s novel of the same name, director Kevin MacDonald’s The Last King of Scotland (one of the many titles Amin assumed for himself, along with “Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa”), follows the rise and eventual fall of this despotic clown. Though both the book and film are faithful to the actual events packed into Amin’s rule, they are presented within a fictional story about a Scottish doctor who becomes Amin’s right-hand man.
The Last King of Scotland

Directed by Kevin MacDonald
With Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington and Simon McBurney

A fresh graduate of medical school, the young doctor, Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), is eager to escape the confines of kin and country and takes off on a whim to Uganda to work at a mission hospital. He arrives just as Amin’s forces have gained victory over the old Ugandan government, so the doctor’s African education becomes inexplicably intertwined with Amin’s rise to power.
Like any young man set loose in a foreign backdrop, Garrigan has adventures. Shedding whatever kirkish inhibitions he might have had, he merrily sleeps around and throws himself into the thick of political rallies.
By an accident, he meets Amin (Forest Whitaker) whose love for all things Scottish will soon include the young doctor — who, by decree, is made the potentate’s personal physician.
For Garrigan, it’s a dream come true. He has his own well-appointed house in Kampala, a new car and wardrobe, and is a special guest at all of the president’s sex orgies. The blood orgy comes later, but by that time it’s rather too late for Garrigan to extract himself from his primary patient. The film, then, becomes a tragedy of a basically decent young man who passively allows himself to be corrupted until he becomes as spattered with blood as his murderous employer.
McAvoy is excellent as the naive Garrigan. His fresh-faced acceptance of his new world vanishes slowly. He foolishly dismisses his first scent of menace from Amin and will even present a train of reasons and excuses for the president’s behavior. But the awful truth must finally force this carefree lad to become a man, and McAvoy achieves this superbly.
Whitaker’s Amin is mesmerizing, especially when the actor, almost imperceptibly, moves from manic levity to paranoiac distemper. Whitaker could have easily presented a caricature of crazed evil, but instead infuses his Amin with — perhaps an odd word under the circumstances — humanity. Actor and director both realize that one of the tasks of good art is to make the monster human, and Whitaker is perfect for the job.
The Last King of Scotland also benefits from a crack supporting cast, with Kerry Washington as Amin’s discarded wife and Theatre de Complicite’s great Simon McBurney turning in a marvelous performance as an oily British spook still stirring up intrigue in the colonies.
In a small role as the wife of the doctor running the mission hospital, Gillian Anderson continues to build a fascinating post–X Files CV. The actress, now based in the United Kingdom, has been appearing in many interesting film and television projects, and her performance here, though secondary, is memorable for its quiet strength.
Unlike Blood Diamond, The Last King of Scotland doesn’t leave you with any mirage of lasting justice. Amin did finally fall, yet rather than being a dangerous political fluke, the man has served as a blueprint for far too many contemporary rulers.

Steffen Silvis can be reached at ssilvis@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (14/02/2007):

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