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It's on till 26 May and here's Some things you might want to know about Brighton Fringe 2008
The Last King Of ScotlandVerdict: That hideous strength
It's 1971. Idi Amin overthrows Milton Obote to become president of Uganda in a violent coup d'etat. It's a popular move throughout the country. His ruthlessness, and extreme violence towards his enemies soon becomes apparent. There are killings throughout the country, and eventually he retires to Saudi Arabia, and a peaceful death is 2003.
The Last King Of Scotland (a title President Amin apparently gave himself) is a snapshot of his presidential career from its beginning, to the start of international awareness of his cruelty, and perhaps madness. The fact - at least the fact in the film - that the British put him into power echoes UK and American support for the installation of President Saddam Hussein in Iraq. There's an echo too in British determination to remove their creation when he turns against expectation. The Last King of Scotland sees President Amin (Forest Whitaker) through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a recently-qualified Scottish doctor. The doctor, brazen, slimy, weak and bristling with resentments (particularly towards the English) is taken on by the president as his personal physician - and adviser. He also fucks one of the president's wives. The consequences of this form the story's resolution. Although Nicholas Garrigan is a fictious character, he is almost certainly drawn from the real-life and extraordinary adventurer Major Bob Astles, who was for several years close to President Amin. The Last King of Scotland is based on the novel of the same name by Giles Foden. The book was part of the inspiration for Max Stafford-Clark's remarkable award-winning theatre production of Macbeth - which draws a parallel between President Amin and another would-be Scottish king. Western history dismissed President Amin as a nutter, a cannibal, despot, mass murderer - in other words, by the things he is said to have done. The Last King of Scotland takes a different path, a cleverer one - it uses the device of the doctor character to get in close to the man himself. The film presents the hugeness of Idi Amin - tall, broad, physically immensely imposing. It presents an enveloping charisma - a huggable, endearing force of a man who combines maternal and paternal security. The loveability - the sheer heat of the man - is shocking. And perhaps that's the trick - that's how he did it. Suddenly, those blood-spattered - but meaningless - news-reports leap into 3-D The film astonishes, all the way through. There is no slack in the story; each episode of its narration is a shock. From the moment it starts, the viewer is dumped into Uganda - alongside the fornicating doctor - and spends the rest of the film there - feeling the heat and pulse of its capital Kampala, and the terrible, adorable charm of its leader - that hideous strength. And at the end, suddenly dumped back in the cinema. Phew. END John Park reviewed Wednesday 18 October 2006 / Odeon Leicester Square, LondonFringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008