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The Last King Of Scotland
MA va
Starring Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Gillian Anderson
Director Kevin Macdonald
Year 2006
Genre Drama
Synopsis Inspired by real events Oscar winner Forest Whitaker stars as Idi Amin - charming and magnetic one minute, murderous the next - in this powerful recreation of Uganda under his mad dictatorship, which is startlingly resonant in today's world. James McAvoy's young Scottish physician, Nicholas Garrigan, who Amin takes an instant liking to and, through a bizarre chain of events offers Garrigan the unlikely job of becoming his personal physician, has made him an actor who will surely be given the attention he deserves.
As time goes on, Garrigan's own desire for power seduces him into becoming the dictator's confidante, consultant and right hand man. Ultimately he finds himself witnessing increasingly unsettling events - including kidnappings, assassinations and unspeakable atrocities in which he himself may be complicit.
The film features a tour de force performance from Forest Whitaker as Amin and carves two unforgettable portraits: one of a charismatic but psychopathic ruler who ravaged his country and the other, of a witness to history who finally finds the courage to make a stand.
Based on Giles Foden's award-winning novel of the same name and directed by Oscar-winner Kevin MacDonald, it was filmed on location in Scotland and Uganda with full support of the Ugandan government. The support cast includes Gillian Anderson, Simon McBurney and Kerry Washington.
TRIVIA: Director Kevin Macdonald met Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni to get permission to film in Uganda; the first Western production shot in Uganda since The African Queen in 1950; "The Last King of Scotland" is a moniker that Amin bestowed on himself; the Times journalist is played by Dr Dick Stockley who is a British doctor who lives and works in Kampala, Uganda.
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