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Volume 72, Issue 78,
Thursday, Janaury 25, 2007
Life & Arts 'Last King' gives evil a charming facade Film humanizes brutal dictator Idi Amin, tells story of young Scottish doctor blinded by despot's charisma by JOHN ARTERBURY
Humanizing a force of evil is never a simple task for filmmakers. Scottish director Kevin Macdonald's silver screen adaptation of Giles Foden's award-winning novel The Last King of Scotland is no exception. Reminiscent of Der Untergang (The Downfall), a German film depicting Adolf Hitler's last days, Last King is a daring recreation of a real-life tyrant with all his human peculiarities and faults. James McAvoy plays the young, globe-trekking Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan, fresh from medical school and intent on changing the world. He finds himself in a Ugandan mission around 1971, beleaguered with seemingly endless immunization projects and surrounded by abject poverty. His timely arrival proves serendipitous, however, as he soon finds himself rendering aid to newly-appointed President Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). Although the injury is minor, Garrigan quickly hits it off with the wisecracking leader. Amin requests Garrigan as his personal physician shortly thereafter, and after some hesitance, Garrigan accepts. Before long, Amin is relying on the young Scot for matters not strictly medical -- the naive doctor soon becomes the president's preeminent adviser. Enamored of authority's perks, Garrigan is enveloped by Amin's mirthful charisma and many quirks, and he is unable to see through the facade that Amin has constructed. He rides through the capital city of Kampala in a luxury car, unaware of Amin's death squads roving the countryside, stacking corpses like firewood. Because of his position, Garrigan is placed among a whirlwind of powerful forces. British spies and local doctors vie for his attention while Garrigan pursues one of Amin's wives. As Amin's crimes become more evident and Garrigan's affair takes root, he finds himself in a compromising and complex position. Last King is partly the story of a turbulent friendship -- of the young doctor in authority reluctant to accept the truth and of the man who is the source of discord. By the time those of Asian descent are exiled from Uganda, Garrigan has exhausted his deniability of Amin's terror. He arranges a press conference in an attempt to dispel rumors of Amin's cannibalistic proclivities and grandiose ambitions, but the effort backfires when Amin only manages to demonstrate his evasive and incompetent nature. How Garrigan sustains his role as adviser is just another of the film's many focal points. Whitaker's rendition of Amin is nothing short of phenomenal. He seamlessly portrays Amin in all his surreal glory, from the fiery rhetoric to the low-brow humor. The resemblance to the real Amin is uncanny; to say that this is one of the highlights of Whitaker's acting career is an understatement. Last King may give evil a smiling face and a booming voice, but it is through this web of deceit that the viewer witnesses Amin's brutality. His character is ultimately a true manifestation of the banality of evil; in the end his inhumane negligence and murderous policies trump even the best-planned joke. Send comments to dcshobiz@mail.uh.edu |
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