The Last King of Scotland - the movie.

The Last King of Scotland - Idi Amin dada dada

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/lastkingofscotland/

the movies coming out in the UK just after x-mas,
I read Giles Fodens book years ago and quite enjoyed it, although a fictionalized story of Amins personal doctor Nicholas Garrigan and his time in Uganda, it was a powerful read and told the story of amin quite well.
looking at the shorts on the link, the actor Forest Whittaker playing Amin looks an excellent dead ringer for the mad sod and just oozes menace and barely controled violence.
it seems the script has been changed a bit from the book, be interesting to see just how historically accurate it ends up.

looking forward to seeing it.

apparently its 'available' to download on the bit torrent sites with the movie being partial released in the states, but I personaly dont know anything about that type of behavior of course.

 

I've seen the trailers for it too. It looks very good.

Not sure about the guy who's playing Garrigan though, I kept expecting to see Frank Gallagher tottering into shot with a can of lager in his hand.

 

Scotland had a King???

I thought the only king they had was burger.....

I'm off....

 

Why did they get Forrest Whittaker. There used to be a doppleganger Apache pilot in the AAC

 

Saw the movie a few weeks ago, it's not bad though doesn't live up to the media hype. The Director really captured the Uganda of the 1970s though Forest W doesn't do Idi complete justice - not nearly jolly, menacing, mad, big or black enough!
The Doctor in the movie while fictional is based on Idi's white sidekick/advisor/whipping boy - Bob Astles - who was locked up by the Ugandans for a number of years following Amin's demise.

 

Astles was very much 'demonised' by the Western media and I am not at all satisfied as to the veracity of some of the allegations made against him.

A very interesting video interview from January 2004 with Bob Astles on BBC Hardtalk here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/3380523.stm

Not so much an interview but more of a hostile 'interrogation' by Tim Sebastian. I could not help but feel that Astles had a lot more to say and perhaps would have done had he been given the opportunity of doing so

 

Good lord! Astles demonised? The guy was an opportunist and a, for want of a better word, spiv. He participated in and encouraged Amin's worst excesses, he was the worst type of colonial freebooter, no morals, no conscience. I'm surprised he wasn't offed by Amin's successors!

 

I am not knocking you for your views. I respect them. However, it is Interesting that such a picture should coincide precisely with the picture of him painted in the press.

I wonder if the media hostility towards him was generated by the fact that he worked in the Government of a murderous dictator. That he is white and worst of all, that he is an Englishman!

He must have been an acute political embarrassment!

Opportunism is no crime. A Spiv? Having no morals is not a crime. Having no conscience is not a crime - we have a House of Commons full of such people!

I see no evidence beyond mere speculation that he participated in 'excesses' however that is defined, and I see no evidence that he 'encouraged' such excesses.

The only evidence, if at all against him is inadmissable heresay evidence upon which you would not hang a dog!

Yet, for such a hideous personality he faced no criminal charges whatsoever on his return to the United Kingdom. I find that very, very strange!

Regards and best wishes
Iolis

 

Iolis. I'm just going by conversations with Ugandan refugees in East Africa in the 1970s (met Idi once too). Astles became an embarrassment to HMG, he served time in Uganda, post Amin, for whatever the Ugandans thought he was guilty of and eventually returned to the UK via Kenya. He committed no crime in the UK.
I recall a press photograph during that era of Astles and several other Europeans carrying Amin shoulder high in a sort of sedan chair tastelessly entitled 'The White Man's Burden.' At first it was all a bit of a joke!

Working in the government of a murderous dictator could have resulted in execution at Nurnberg!

 

Hi Busterdog,

My doubts about the crimes alleged to have been committed by Astles arise for two reasons. Firstly, the established law of the United Kingdom that The English courts have jurisdiction to try United Kingdom Subjects for crimes committed while abroad. Murder and conspiracy to murder can and often are dealt with by the courts in this country. That no charges were ever referred to CPS seems distinctly odd given his alleged closeness to Amin.

The second reason is that having served for six months with BMATT Uganda from 7 April 1986 until 10 October 1986, I had the opportunity of speaking to British and other foreign expats, including members of the Mill Hill Fathers of the Catholic Church, some of whom lived in Jinja and Kampala during the reign of Amin, then Obote when Juilies Nyreri restored him to power after the invasion by Tanzania and subsequently, Museveni whose NRA diposed him, who knew Astles personally and knew of him and they were adamant in their assertion that much of what had been written about him in the UK Press was wildly inaccurate. Given the sensationalist nature of the UK Press, not renowned for it's veracity, I can well believe them.

Regards and best Wishes
Iolis

 

Iolis,

Fascinating stuff, didn't know a MATT was established in Uganda in the mid eighties, how long did it last? Still can't view Astles from your angle, had no reason to doubt the black Ugandans I spoke with at the time, best we agree to differ!

Busterdog.

 

Am looking forward to seeing the film. Idi ended up in Saudi and when I was there (1998-00) his escape aircraft was, so it was said, still where it rolled to a stop at the old airport.

He had a villa for a time in the same part of Jeddah where I lived and rumour had it he could occasionally be seen in the danube supermarket in the He-era shopping mall. When there, I always looked out for any big, black fellas scanning the freezer section with a list in their hand muttering, 'Head....heads...nooooo, can't see 'em'.