I recall as a child hearing about the Ugandan president Idi Amin and at one time hearing the news that he was on exile in Saudi Arabia. Last week we had a movie brought home titled The Last King of Scotland which apparently is based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician Dr. Nicholas Garrigan during the 1970s. How clueless of me to not know that he was a brutal dictator, so as I sat to watch the movie assuming that this movie was trying to show us the history of Idi Amin's which it had indeed removed my blindfold but it was through his physician and from the first scene how Dr. Nicholas travel in the bus meeting an African woman who invite him for one night stand, showing us how energized through this night stand. The movie goes on smooth until we reach on a special party held by the President or on nightclub I can not really tell where we are shown how African women dancers dancing topless and with Dr. Nicholas meeting one of Idi Amins' wife where he gets involved with her physically and this scene has been detailed. The movie swerve that the wife get pregnant from Dr. Nicholas and the journey of the women to abort herself and the brutality that happened with it.Normally I watch a movie and forget about it, this movie left me with intense anger, my African in me was so angry as how our African women had been portrayed in this movie. As an African I wonder do we have in our history heroes that we could look up to and we can portray them in a movie that can do them justice. Isn't high time for us to bring the glory for those who did us proud in Africa or there is none of them to mention.
I watched this movie and had a question that is this all we have in Africa to show to the rest of the world.
This movie have been directed by Kevin Macdonald 2006 and had won Oscar and nominated for many other awards.
5 comments:
I saw this movie, and thought it was very barbaric. But than again, this is how "some" human being are at times, especially men. In this movie, the "doctor" is as heartless as Idi Amin.
When I saw what they did to the cheating wife, I became physically ill. Men are cruel to women, and with very few exceptions, not much have changed today!
What a coincidence! I have the DVD of this film ready to watch and even considered watching it this evening, then I come to your site for the first time.
I think it is true that many films about Africa show the suffering and violence and corruption. I have seen The Constant Gardener, Hotel Ruanda, Tsutsi and others I cannot think of at present.
But there is one which is just released, set in Botswana, which I urge you to see when you can. I didn't see it yet. It's a drama for TV directed by Anthony Minghella who died a couple of weeks ago. Based on the book (or series of books) by Alexander McCall Smith.
Not only is it entirely positive, showing the best in the African way of life, but there are no white characters at all. (I am white, my wife is black from Jamaica. Have never visited Africa but love the music, both traditional and pop.)
Colonialism and the end of colonialism were twin blows which hit the continent where all our ancestors come from. Africa is our past and I believe also our future.
I forgot to mention that the film about Botswana is called The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency. It is a comedy, but the women are portrayed as strong noble characters - more so than the men I would say but I have not seen the film only read the book.
I read the book or its books... The Auhtor is really good and talking about the positive side of women in Botswana ... Im delighted to will come as Movie ...Great insight Vincent
Having now seen The Last King of Scotland I don't see a reason for anger or shame in the way women were portrayed in it. They acted with typical African dignity. Amin was a vicious man with a charming persona. Who could have withstood that?
The film showed dramatically how Africans were corrupted twice over: by their instinctive subservience to the post-colonial expatriates, as shown by Garrigan and his colleagues; and then by the brutality of dictators who had been put in place with connivance of the British.
I am sure there are plenty of heroines in real life but their role is often not physically dominant: more nurturing, more inspired by courage and endurance.
I would certainly like to see a film in which such qualities were the main theme. In addition to the comedy of the Detective Agency, there is place for drama, tragedy.
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