The Last King of Scotland

I am not sure if it is simply coincidence but against the background of today being the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of Janini Luwum in the Uganda of Idio Amin it is interesting that a popular film on at the local cinema this week is "The Last King of Scotland".

The Last King of Scotland is a BAFTA winning and an Academy Award-nominated 2006 British film based on Giles Foden's award-winning debut novel of the same name. It was adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, and directed by Kevin MacDonald. The Last King of Scotland received a 2007 BAFTA award for best British film and earned Forest Whitaker a BAFTA for best actor.
It received a limited release in the United States on September 27, 2006, with a UK release on January 12, 2007 and a German release set for May 17, 2007.
Forest Whitaker, who won more critics' awards (including the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Movie Drama) for his performance than any other leading actor from 2006 , stars as the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and Kerry Washington plays Kay, one of Amin's wives. As fictional characters, James MacAvoy portrays Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (very loosely based on events in the life of Amin's English-born associate Bob Astles); 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.

Young Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James MacAvoy) comes to Uganda and works in a small hospital in the countryside. The new Ugandan President Idi Amin happens to get lightly injured when he is in the region, and Garrigan is asked to treat him. Doing this Garrigan finds it disturbing that a cow who is also injured is suffering. He boldly grabs Amin's gun and kills the cow. After initial irritation Amin likes Garrigan's boldness and initiative; also, Amin, who is rather anti-England, likes Scotland. Thus Garrigan becomes Amin's personal physician, and also his advisor.
Garrigan descends ever deeper into the moral corruption of Amin's Uganda. At first Garrigan ignores the crimes Amin is committing across the country, but he is forced to acknowledge their reality when a comment of his leads Amin to kill the health minister. Garrigan tries to quit working for Amin only to discover that Amin has confiscated his passport. Confronting the reality of Amin and the consequences of his own actions, he is encouraged by a British diplomat to assassinate Amin. Garrigan, seeing no way out, falls further when he enters into an affair with one of Amin's wives, and impregnates her. Garrigan's reckless actions inevitably lead to Amin finding out. Amin kills her in a brutal way. Garrigan attempts to poison Amin. Amin's suspicion is confirmed during the Air France hijacking at Entebbe International Airport: Garrigan prevents a hostage taking the poison which he had intended for Amin, after which he is brutally tortured. He is saved by a Ugandan doctor who dies as a consequence of his actions. Garrigan escapes with a group of released hostages.
Like the book on which it is based, the film mixes fiction with some real events to give an impression of Amin's Uganda and Amin. While the basic events of Amin's life are followed, the film often departs in the details of particular events.