Until I watched The Last King of Scotland, I didn’t believe that cinema’s rekindled love affair with Africa was hitting the right notes. The Interpreter, Blood Diamond and even Hotel Rwanda all made the mistake of making a statement and not a film.
The Last King of Scotland never gets caught up in the politics of the situation on a macro level like its predecessors. Instead we are forced to look at the state of affairs through the eyes of one man, whose lone turning of a blind eye commands more attention than any film pointing its finger at the world.
Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) is the one man I’m speaking of. After graduating from medical school in 1971, Garrigan passes up a quick transition into life as a family physician to become a village doctor in Uganda. Just as he arrives, Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) takes power from a corrupt government. He’s a powerful, charismatic populist who promises changes that will make Uganda the envy of the African continent. But as much as Amin is charming, he’s equally paranoid.
Garrigan gets caught up in Amin’s gregarious political lifestyle, when by happenstance Garrigan is required to mend Amin’s hand after an accident. Amin equally takes a liking to the Scottish doctor. Their relationship isn’t complex, mostly because Garrigan doesn’t want it to be complex. When the realities of the mass killing that Amin orchestrates hit home, the young doctor must find a way out.
At its heart, The Last King of Scotland is a morality tale. A young man lives a lavish lifestyle, ignoring the events around him and in the end pays a ghastly price. That price isn’t nearly as terrible as the atrocities that occurred while he didn’t care to care. That makes The Last King of Scotland thematically more substantial than any other film about Africa in many years.
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1 - A.L. Harper
Congratulations this article has been made an editor's pick of the week by Assistant Music Editor A.L. Harper.
2 - Daniel J. Stasiewski
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