Solution
Dear Student,
Hi and thank you for using Brainmass. The solution below should get you started. In this particular task, you are asking for help in putting together a movie review. I suggest using this simple outline:
1. Movie Specifics
2. Summary - 100 words
3. Worldview & Values insights via scenes - 150 words
4. Intercultural communication, conflicts, etc - 150 words
5. Notes/Reflection - 100 words
6. Resources
This should yield 500 words or more which should cover what you need. You can use the listed resources to further explore the topic. You can also leave a message via the feedback section if you need further clarification. All the best with your studies.
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Movie Review
Title: The Last King of Scotland
Director: Kevin McDonald
Screenplay : Jeremy Brock & Peter Morgan based on the 1998 book 'The Last King of Scotland' by Giles Foden
Starring: Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Simon McBurney and Gillian Anderson
Production: DNA Films and Filmfour
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Year: 2006/2007
Synopsis (Into Film, 2006) - "Forest Whitaker gives an Oscar-winning performance as Idi Amin, the Ugandan liberator turned brutal dictator, who slaughtered his own citizens and political opponents during the 1970s. Seen through the eyes of the fictional Nicholas Garrigan, a young idealistic doctor from Scotland, what starts off as an assignment of a lifetime soon descends into the stuff of nightmares. This is a riveting but frightening story of power gone mad, opening up questions about politics and corruption which remain relevant today."
As the synopsis above presented, the film is an adaptation of the work of Giles Foden (Fodden, 1998) of the same title as the movie, with the novel looking into the rise of the former Ugandan president Idi Amin into power in the 1970's where the author weaves historical fact into fiction. In the novel as in the book, we see Dr. Garrigan's (played by James McAvoy) fascination with Amin (played by Forest Whitaker) in the beginning when Amin was initially coming into power as a 'liberator' of Uganda, seeking freedom from the influence of Britain. But soon the power of being the most powerful man in Uganda changes Amin, who as a military general was used to the utilization of force, brutality and war in a bid to make the population submit. The naïve idealism and sense of adventure in Dr. Garrigan slowly turns into confusion, then into anger at himself and a sense of disgust, disinterest and fatalism as he witnesses the growing corruption and eventual brutality of Amin whom he had become the confidant of and whose brutal acts he has assisted.
The title 'The Last King of Scotland' sounds as a joke, and even Garrigan himself found the idea of Amin's self-declaration as far-fetched. But Amin, who declared that he 'identified' with Scotland's struggle to free itself of England's power displayed a sense of fantasist megalomania as he drew from sketchy sources to declare that once there were African Kings in the Jacobite bloodlines (referring to the fallen Scottish royalty) and he fancied himself a descendant of said 'African Kings', offering himself as the 'Last King of Scotland' to the Scots and declaring that he will 'take on' their fight against England. The historic, political and cultural conflict at play here draws from British history and the tumultuous relations of royal succession and power exacerbated by the conflict brought upon by colonialism and the fight for independence of African nations at the time of the British Empire.
What is glaring in the film is the contrast of the ideals Amin declares and the violence and death he commits to carry out his tyrannical hold on Uganda. The grisly torture, the depraved manner by which Amin and his circle lived their public, private and even sexual lives, the political scheming and the assassinations committed by Amin of which Garrigan was complicit, and the number of deaths brought on by Amin's paranoia, xenophobia and murders and the willingness to commit to wars (which he eventually does when he invaded Tanzania). As Garrigan lost his freedom (his British passport was taken off him, replaced by Amin with a Ugandan one) and witnesses the brutal death of those close to Amin (i.e. the dismemberment of Kay, one of Amin's wives, whom Garrigan had an affair with), he falls into despair as the full impact of a violent tyrant resulting in the suffering of an entire nation becomes the reality that he lives.
To save Garrigan, his colleague Dr. Junju rescues Garrigan who was pierced with meat hooks and hanged by his skin as punishment for his affair with Kay. Dr. Junju risks his life to allow Garrigan to board the plane of freed Israeli hostages from the Entebbe airport hijacking. Dr. Junju believed that with Garrigan being 'white' and having witnessed firsthand the cruel tyranny of Amin would have a good chance of getting the world to listen to free the Ugandan from the tyranny of their dictator. In this part of the film, we see how race and race relations play a part in the lobbying and advocacy of the Western world to whom Ugandans like Dr. Junju looked to for help, having lost hope in their own people's probability of deposing Amin. Amin was eventually deposed after he lost in the invasion of Tanzania when in the retaliation, Uganda's own capital Kampala was captured in the counterattack. In fear of retaliation and losing his life and powerbase, Amin went into exile in Saudi Arabia. But as he live in exile he never acknowledge his wrongs and carried on with the fantastical narratives that led him to declare varied titles onto himself similar to being the 'last king of Scotland' - i.e. 'Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda' and 'His Excellency President for Life'.
The movie, based on real events provides insights into human nature turning to greed and lust for power leading to tyranny and the suffering of a nation who bought into the fake façade of a benevolent and wise leader. Whether Amin meant to kill, assassinate and brutally beat into submission his people in the beginning it is impossible to truly declare as truth. What is true though is that he left a traumatic decade to the people of Uganda so brutal Amin is marked as one of the most evil men to ever have lived.
Word Count: 1,100
Resources:
1. Fodden, G., 1998. The Last King of Scotland. 1st ed. s.l.:Faber and Faber.
2. Into Film, 2006. THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. [Online]
Available at: https://www.intofilm.org/films/3146
[Accessed 15 April 2022].