Idi Amin on the Big Screen

Today is the release date of the new film The Last King of Scotland. It is a story about Idi Amin's dictatorship in Uganda and his personal relationship with a (fictionalized) White physician. It occurs to me that we have seen a lot of Western-made thrillers in the last few years with African crises of one sort or another functioning as a supporting character, while white Westerners enjoy the lead roles and get the screen time. This new self-proclaimed thriller comes on the heels of The Interpreter, The Constant Gardener, and Lord of War. It will be interesting to see what the balance is in The Last King of Scotland between a story about Amin and Uganda and a crowd-pleasing thriller. Hopefully both aspects are interesting.

I thought I'd point out a very interesting 1974 documentary on Idi Amin, General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait. The title ironically refers to Amin's charm, naivete, and charisma; his assumption that he is in command of all social situations, including the making of the film. Based on the kind of unguarded moments that most filmmakers could only dream of, the German director Barbet Schroeder allows Amin plenty of rope to hang himself. He even went so far as to score the film with accordion music made by Amin.