The Last King of Scotland
Teaser poster for The Last King of Scotland
Directed by	Kevin MacDonald
Written by	Novel: Giles Foden Screenplay: Peter Morgan Jeremy Brock
Starring	Forest Whitaker James McAvoy Kerry Washington Simon McBurney and Gillian Anderson
Music by	Alex Heffes
Cinematography	Anthony Dod Mantle
Editing by	Justine Wright
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date(s)	September 27, 2006 (USA) (limited) January 12, 2007 (UK)
Language	English
Budget	US$6 million
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Last King of Scotland is an award-winning 2006 film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name. It was adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock and directed by Kevin MacDonald. The film was a co-production between companies from the United States and the United Kingdom, including Fox Searchlight Pictures and Film4. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (511x755, 89 KB) This image is of a movie poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the movie or the studio which produced the movie in question. ... Kevin Macdonald (born October 28, 1967) is a Scottish documentary film director, best known for One Day in September (2000) and Touching the Void (2003). ... The Last King of Scotland is an award-winning first novel by journalist Giles Foden. ... The Last King of Scotland by author Giles Foden (Faber and Faber 1998) Giles Foden (born in Warwickshire, United Kingdom in 1967) is a British author best known for his award-winning novel The Last King of Scotland (1998). ... Peter Morgan (born April 10, 1963 in London) is an English Academy Award nominated screenwriter and playwright. ... Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an award-winning American actor, producer, and director. ... James Andrew McAvoy (April 21, 1979[1]) is a BAFTA-nominated Scottish actor. ... Kerry Washington (born January 31, 1977) is an American actress. ... Simon Montagu McBurney (born August 25, 1957 in Cambridge) is a British actor and director. ... Gillian Leigh Anderson (born August 9, 1968) is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, best known for her roles as FBI Agent Dana Scully in the American TV series The X-Files and Lady Dedlock in the BBC TV series Bleak House. ... Fox Searchlight Pictures logo. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... The Last King of Scotland is an award-winning first novel by journalist Giles Foden. ... // Please note that following the tradition of the English language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the United States and Canada in 2006; because they may have made most of their income in a later year, they may not be the top-grossing... The Last King of Scotland by author Giles Foden (Faber and Faber 1998) Giles Foden (born in Warwickshire, United Kingdom in 1967) is a British author best known for his award-winning novel The Last King of Scotland (1998). ... The Last King of Scotland is an award-winning first novel by journalist Giles Foden. ... Peter Morgan (born April 10, 1963 in London) is an English Academy Award nominated screenwriter and playwright. ... Kevin Macdonald (born October 28, 1967) is a Scottish documentary film director, best known for One Day in September (2000) and Touching the Void (2003). ... Production company refers to a company responsible for the development and physical production of a film or television program. ... Fox Searchlight Pictures logo. ... Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel 4. ...

The Last King of Scotland tells the fictional story of Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scottish doctor who travels to Uganda and becomes the personal physician to the dictator Idi Amin (played by Forest Whitaker, who won more critics' awards for his performance than any other leading actor in 2006[1]). Gillian Anderson plays the health-aide wife of the doctor (Adam Kotz) with whom Garrigan first works in Uganda; Simon McBurney plays a British diplomat; and David Oyelowo plays a Ugandan doctor. FicTioNaL is a Gaming Legend. ... James Andrew McAvoy (April 21, 1979[1]) is a BAFTA-nominated Scottish actor. ... Dictator is originally the title of a magistrate in ancient Rome appointed by the Senate to rule the state in times of emergency. ... Idi Amin Dada (mid-1920s[1]–16 August 2003) was an army officer and president of Uganda. ... Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an award-winning American actor, producer, and director. ... Gillian Leigh Anderson (born August 9, 1968) is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, best known for her roles as FBI Agent Dana Scully in the American TV series The X-Files and Lady Dedlock in the BBC TV series Bleak House. ... Simon Montagu McBurney (born August 25, 1957 in Cambridge) is a British actor and director. ... This page is about negotiations; for the board game, see Diplomacy (game). ... David Oyelowo (born on 1 April 1976) is a British actor. ...

Historical accuracy

Garrigan is a fictional character, but his story is very loosely based on events in the life of English-born Bob Astles. Like the novel on which it is based, the film mixes fiction with real events in Ugandan history to give an impression of Amin and Uganda under his totalitarian rule. While the basic events of Amin's life are followed, the film often departs in the details of particular events. Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Bob Astles (born 1924), called Lubowa among the Ngo clan, was a former British soldier who lived in Uganda and became an associate of Idi Amin. ...

The film condenses the timeframe of real events; for example, Amin expelled the Asians in 1972, and the airplane hijacking took place in 1976, but in the film they appear to take place closer in time.

Many of the Ugandan landmarks seen in the movie did not exist in the 1970s.

Plot

Young Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) comes to Uganda and works in a small hospital in the countryside. The new Ugandan President Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) happens to get lightly injured when he is in the region, and Garrigan is asked to treat him. While treating Amin, Garrigan is distracted by the suffering of a cow also injured in the accident. He boldly grabs Amin's gun and kills the cow. Initially irritated by his actions, Amin begins to admire Garrigan's boldness and initiative; Amin also loves Scotland. Thus, Garrigan becomes Amin's personal physician and advisor.

Garrigan soon begins to descend 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. Garrigan finds her mutilated by Amin and then attempts to poison him. Amin's suspicion is confirmed during the Air France hijacking at Entebbe International Airport: Garrigan prevents a soldier from taking the poison which he had intended for Amin, after which he is brutally tortured. He is saved by a Ugandan doctor who is killed as a consequence of his actions. Garrigan escapes with a group of released hostages.

Differences between the book and the film

• The film is only loosely based on Giles Foden's novel; in fact, director Kevin MacDonald discouraged actor James McAvoy from reading the book because it differed so much from the script.[2]
• Most of the film's plot structure is more similar to the Idi Amin biopic, Amin: The Rise and Fall, rather than the book.
• Nicholas Garrigan's relationship with Amin is less intimate in the book than it is in the movie. Garrigan is a more passive and an arguably less sympathetic character in the book (also, his father is a domineering Presbyterian minister, and not a doctor as he is in the film).
• In the book, British Intelligence has a hand in appointing Garrigan to the position of Amin's personal physician, while in the movie Garrigan's appointment appears to be entirely due to the whims of Amin.
• The character of Sarah Merrit (played by Gillian Anderson) in the movie is a composite of three different characters from the book (Joyce Merrit, Sara Zach and Marina Perkins). Many supporting characters in the book (e.g. Frederik Swanepoel, William Waziri, Major Weir, and Angol-Steve) are absent entirely in the movie.
• In the movie, Garrigan's colleague at the hospital is the Ugandan Dr. Thomas Djonjo; in the book, he is a fellow Scot, Dr. Colin Paterson.
• In the movie, Garrigan tends to Amin's epileptic son Mackenzie when he is having a seizure. The equivalent scene in the book has Garrigan retrieving a block of lego from the nose of Amin's son Campbell.
• In the movie, Amin's wife Kay has an affair with Garrigan and the resulting pregnancy leads to her capture and death before Garrigan can perform an abortion. In the book, Kay (a much more minor character than in the film) does not have an affair with Garrigan; she falls pregnant by Peter Mbalu-Mukasa (an African doctor who does not appear in the film) and Garrigan refuses to perform the abortion. Kay and Peter are killed soon after.
• In both the book and the movie, the British diplomat, Stone, asks Garrigan to kill Amin by poisoning him. In the movie, Garrigan attempts to do so and is caught out by Amin; in the book, Garrigan does not even attempt to poison Amin (he even admits to Amin that he was asked to do it). Since Garrigan does not betray Amin, Amin does not order Garrigan's torture and death as he does in the film (and even considers their friendship intact when the story ends).
• In the book, Garrigan does not escape with the hostages from Entebbe as he does in the movie. He leaves Africa during the aftermath of the Uganda-Tanzania War, and when he returns to Britain, he is distrusted and vilified by the press, which accuses him of being Amin's right-hand man and actively taking part in the dictator's atrocities.

A biographical film or biopic is a film about a particular person or group of people, based on events that actually happened. ... Combatants Uganda Libya Tanzania Peoples Defence Force & Uganda National Liberation Army Commanders Idi Amin Tanzanian army: Julius Nyerere UNLF: Tito Okello, Yoweri Museveni, David Oyite-Ojok Strength 3,000 Libyans, unknown number of Ugandan Army troops 100,000 Tanzanians, unknown number of Ugandan resistance troops, unknown number of Rwandan...

Exhibition

The Last King of Scotland received a limited release in the United States on September 27, 2006, with a UK release on January 12, 2007, a French release on February 14, 2007, and a German release on March 15, 2007. September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (75th in leap years). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

The film was released on DVD in North America on April 17, 2007. It was released in the UK on 14th May 2007. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... April 17 is the 107th day of the year (108th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... (Redirected from 14th May) May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (135th in leap years). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

Critical reception and awards

Whitaker received considerable critical acclaim for his performance as dictator Idi Amin in the film, winning the Best Actor award at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTAs, in addition to awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review and many other critics awards. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... The Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) is the labor union representing over 120,000 film actors in the United States. ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role has been presented to its winners since 1952 and actors of all nationalities are eligible to receive the award. ... The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) is the largest film critics organization in the U.S. and Canada, representing 199 television, radio and online critics. ... New York Film Critics Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. ... The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) was founded in 1975. ... The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George McClennans revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. ...

The film received a 2007 BAFTA Award for Best British Film. It also received BAFTA awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best British Film, in addition to receiving nominations for Best Supporting Actor (James McAvoy) and Best Film. This page lists the winners of the BAFTA Award for Best Film for each year, along with the nominees. ...

See also

• Operation Entebbe - The Israeli rescue operation of the hostages at the Entebbe Airport
• List of historical people portrayed as villains
• Fictional portrayals of psychopaths
• Films featuring a white protagonist in Africa

Combatants  Israel  PFLP Revolutionäre Zellen  Uganda Commanders Yonatan Netanyahu† Wadie Haddad Wilfried Böse Idi Amin Strength 29 Commandos Unknown Casualties Yonatan Netanyahu killed three hostages killed five commandos wounded 6 hijackers killed 45 Ugandan soldiers killed Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe incident and sometimes the Entebbe... Entebbe International Airport is the main international airport of Uganda. ... This is a list of historical people who have been portrayed as villains in works of fiction. ... Psychopaths in popular fiction and movies[1] have a fictionalized personality disorder. ...

External links

• Official website
• The Last King of Scotland at the Internet Movie Database
• Time Out Set Visit

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

Interviews

• Actor James McAvoy and Director Kevin Macdonald interview at Future Movies
• Forest Whitaker interview for The Last King of Scotland at Press Archive

Reviews

• Last King of Scotland Reviews at Metacritic.com
• The Last King of Scotland at Rotten Tomatoes
• Movie review at The Blurb