If you've seen "The Last King of Scotland"

[Valerie in Chicago]

I just finished watching this movie this morning. What can I say? I have two small kids. So I record things off of HBO and take a week to get through a movie that came out two years ago.

 

BUT my point.... is Dr. Nicholas Garrigan a real person? Or a fictional character created in order to tell the story from the perspective of an outsider looking in?

 

I tried to start a Google search, but haven't gotten too far due to aforementioned small kids.

 

My next trip to Borders, I'll try to find the book and see if it offers any answers.

 

But I figured that as long as I was poking around the board for a minute that it might be worth asking.

 

(and can you tell the impression that this movie made on me??????)

 

Thanks for much in advance!

[Dayle in Guatemala]

I just saw it too a few months back. It was a powerful movie to me as well--Forest Whitaker is amazing in it.

 

I don't know if he was real or not, I think I've read that he was. I'm interested to find out more as well.

[Danestress]

My understanding is the movie was based on a fictional novel.

[Jenny in Atl]

It's fictional but based somewhat on the life of Robert Astles. The movie based on the book, Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden.

 

hths!

[lwilliams1922]

:lurk5:

[GraceinMD]

(and can you tell the impression that this movie made on me??????)

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure that the others are correct - this was a fictional account. However, the thing that struck me about the movie was how very well they portrayed the sense of being in Uganda, and the terror that Amin stirred up.

 

I was there in 1990, living with a Ugandan family, and talking about that time period was clearly a very difficult subject for them. We were driving from Kampala to Jinja one day, and our host was talking about the hundreds of bodies that were buried in the woods there - and he actually sounded quite fearful .... It was startling to me, because it was a beautiful area, and Amin had been there so many years before - I guess I thought that the fear would have dissipated. Anyway, my impression from the families we met was that Amin was (as accurately portrayed in the movie) very labile and unpredictable. (This, of course, begs the question: mentally ill, or evil?)

 

I agree with you - a VERY moving film.

[bettyandbob]

As a child and young teen I remember the horrible stuff that was leaked out of Uganda. As an adult I have a friend whose family escaped. He father was an Anglican Bishop and the family believed he had been murdered. At some point Amin called a meeting of the church leaders and proceeded to murder them. My friend had traveled with his father to the meeting and stayed in a hotel room waiting for his father. The family's driver got my friend from the hotel room after hearing of the murders and proceeded with escape plans. The family had devised escape plans and set place to meet up in Kenya, because the situation was so volatile. My friend has 9 (maybe more) siblings so the plans were somewhat elaborate to accomodate the group and various complications. His father did escape. He walked to Nairobi, posing as a beggar I believe. Eventually the family ended up in the US. His parents did return to Uganda after Amin was taken out of power. At that time his was named the Bishop of Uganda. Andrew has never seen the movie because as he says he lived it.

 

So perhaps the story depicted was fiction, but the actions depicted were based on facts. The terror that Amin put on Uganda was completely real.

[Valerie in Chicago]

Wow, thanks everyone! Very insightful stuff......