The Last King of Scotland

[Nilandia]

Just saw this yesterday (some movies tend to take a while to get here) and I was very impressed.

Forest Whitaker definitely deserves his Oscar nomination for playing Idi Amin, in my not-so-humble opinion. He somehow manages to make a ruthless dictator seem human, which makes him all the more frightening. It's so easy to write someone like Idi Amin off as a madman or psychopath, but when he becomes human, we have to admit that there may be others like him, and they can be anyone.

His portrayal becomes all the better when the film clips are shown at the end of the real Idi Amin, and you realize how thoroughly Whitaker embodied the dictator. As cliche as it sounds, it was as though he became Idi Amin for a time.

I'd highly recommend the movie to anyone who enjoys a film that looks at humanity's capacity for evil and complicity without blinking.

Gretchen

[xtc]

It is on my list of films to see especially since i have been to Uganda and my family once lived there and operated numerous plants/businesses.

Amin was a butcher and a madman. The country is a shit hole now, it was once a beautiful jewel in Africa.

Does the movie discuss the real reason Amin kicked all the Indians out of Uganda? (because an Indian women rejected him)

I want to read the book first.

[Gan]

Its on my list of films to see.

[Nilandia]

Does the movie discuss the real reason Amin kicked all the Indians out of Uganda? (because an Indian women rejected him)

No, it didn't. It didn't really get into a reason for it aside possibly from his paranoia. It also discussed that Amin wanted to get rid of the Indians because they were seen as not "African" enough, though I can't recall if that was the public reason or not.

If that makes sense.

Gretchen

[TheEschaton]

1) I was simultaneously elated at the first ten minutes where I got to see the Africa I remember when the main character went to go be a doctor in the village, and pissed at the main character for being the kind of white douche bag idiot he was. Especially when he's fucking the African chick he meets on the bus and starts yelling "I'm a medical worker in a foreign country" or whatever. His attitude pissed me off the whole movie.

2) I miss Africa.

3) Gillian Anderson - hot, but in an older lady kind of way now. Totally didn't recognize her.

4) Kerry Washington's ass. I need not say more.

5) Yeah, Whitaker fucking rocked it.

-TheE-

[Nilandia]

1) I was simultaneously elated at the first ten minutes where I got to see the Africa I remember when the main character went to go be a doctor in the village, and pissed at the main character for being the kind of white douche bag idiot he was. Especially when he's fucking the African chick he meets on the bus and starts yelling "I'm a medical worker in a foreign country" or whatever. His attitude pissed me off the whole movie.

Definitely agree. I lost pretty much all my respect for the character with all the times he was going after women.

Gretchen

[StrayRogue]

I prefered Perfume, to be honest.

[TheEschaton]

Cause of all the nakedness (so I hear) and full frontal nudity?

It was white people like the main character that made my life difficult in Africa.

-TheE-

[Artha]

It was white people like the main character that made my life difficult in Africa.

If only there were some kind of system in place to keep white people seperate from everyone else...