Direction: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington, Simon McBurney, Adam Kotz, David Oyelowo
Kevin Macdonald an Oscar-winning Scottish documentary film director, who is best known for One Day in September (2000) and Touching the Void (2003) in which he dealt with the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics and the ill-fated attempt of two climbers to ascend the Peruvian Andes once again brilliantly describes his understanding of male psychology and fanaticism in his new film ‘The Last King Of Scotland.’
‘The Last King Of Scotland’ is based on Giles Foden’s novel which reveals the story of the strange relationship between the dictator Idi Amin and a Scottish doctor (McAvoy) .The film was adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock.
The film detailed how a Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world’s most barbaric figures: Idi Amin. The newly self-appointed Ugandan President Amin was impressed by Dr. Garrigan’s bold attitude in a moment of crisis and appoints him as his personal physician and closest confidante. Garrigan was firstly flattered by his new post but he soon awakens to Amin’s savagery and his own involvement in it. Horror and betrayal ensue as Garrigan tries to right his wrongs and get out of Uganda alive.
Forest Whitaker plays the role of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and Kerry Washington plays Kay, one of Amin’s wives. James McAvoy portrays Dr. Nicholas Garrigan; Gillian Anderson plays the health-aide wife of the doctor (Adam Kotz) with whom Garrigan first works in Uganda; and Simon McBurney, plays a British diplomat.
Whitaker won many critics awards but received a critical acclaim for his peformance as a dictator Idi Amin in the film. Whitaker’s acting brings the dictator back to life and his conduct with stunning propinquity.
The Last King Of Scotland is a story shocking in its truth that describes about the lure of power. Though the end is violent but still the film is a wonderful compendium of facts and greater truths and of course a wonderful movie.The film is slated to release in UK by January 12, 2007 and in Germany it will release by May 17, 2007.The film received a limited release in the United States on September 27, 2006.
