CMFH Film Reviews

2006, UK
Adventure, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Review by Deborah Dearth

When looking for an adventure, the Devil may be a tempting benefactor. When a Scottish doctor seeks a challenge in Uganda, he could not have predicted that the country’s newest leader would call him to his side. Director Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void) mixes fact with fiction in his adaptation of Giles Foden’s book about Idi Amin and his dangerous period of dictatorship.

When recently graduated doctor Nicholas Garrigan (a fervent James McAvoy of The Chronicles of Narnia and Bright Young Things) realizes that he is about to begin a life in practice with his stuffy father, he feels the need to run away and try something a bit edgier. He soon finds himself helping out at a clinic in Uganda with limited supplies but a heavy patient load.

Garrigan attends a rally for Amin, who has recently taken power after a coup and assures the crowd that he is a man of the people who will listen to their needs. Young and enthusiastic, Garrigan is charmed by this personable general, and finds himself cheering with the locals. Following the rally, Amin requires the physician’s attention when he hurts his hand. During a moment of chaos as he’s dressing the injury, Garrigan silences a braying cow with a single bullet. The charm becomes mutual between Scotsman and Ugandan.

Historical fiction is a tricky thing, but this film allows a fictional doctor to provide an insider’s look at a horrific regime. Initially naive yet intelligent, Garrigan is mesmerized by this new leadership that he believes is fully supported by the citizens. When offered a position as Amin’s personal physician, he is seduced by the luxurious lifestyle of overflowing amenities and less stress. Not until he witnesses violence for himself does he realize that the atrocious rumors are true.

Many of these tales come by way of an aggravating Brit (Simon McBurney of Friends with Money) who insists that Garrigan put his newfound relationship with Amin to good use by keeping the British government informed of the dictator’s actions. As a Scotsman, Garrigan feels particularly offended by this British sense of entitlement, and through this hatred Garrigan and Amin bond further. In fact, Amin feels so much that his country is another of Britain’s lost stepchildren, that he declares himself King of Scotland and indulges in aspects of its culture, including wearing the occasional kilt.

Amin is portrayed with magnetic viciousness by Forest Whitaker, who is alternately humorously curious or filled with a rage that cannot be calmed. Depending on his mood and the situation, Garrigan is his lowly servant or his closest advisor. He may allow Garrigan the ultimate decision concerning a new city building and then breathe fiery breath in his face when the young doctor misinterprets the extent of their friendship.

Though Garrigan is particularly foolish to jump into a government administration that he knows nothing about, the audience is taken along for the ride. So determined that the Brits are wrong and that it is possible for a man to be a concerned leader, he shades his eyes from the truth until it is too late. Amin’s rule resulted in so many atrocities that the few this character witnessed would be just the tip of the iceberg. But it only takes a few gruesome images of torture to inform the audience that although this may not have been the Devil himself, this putrid apple did not fall far from the tree.