October 31, 2010

"Let me tell you, if I could be anything instead of a Ugandan, I would be a Scot."-The Last King of Scotland

Kevin Macdonald's, "The Last King of Scotland," provides for an analysis of the three act structure with elevating points of climax. In the first act of the film, Nicholas Garrigan graduates from medical school and chooses to work at a Ugandan missionary clinic in hopes for adventure. Nicholas arrives at the first plot point when General Idi Amin, who recently defeated incumbent president Milton Obote in a massive turning point for Uganda, gets into a car accident and hurts his arm. Nicholas arrives on scene to aid General Idi Amin and falls under Amin's liking thanks to his Scottish nationality and Amin's appreciation for Scotland's resistance against the British for so many years. Nicholas realizes this moment of previous stress and chaos is now a moment of great accomplishment as Amin asks him to be his personal physician. This act lasts approximately thirty to forty minutes.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV_QgKJFZP0


As Nicholas basks in glamourous parties and lavish benefits to his new job as personal physician to Amin he is blind to the actual horrors lying under Amin's impressive charisma. The drama ensuing in this second act provides the setup for the third and final act as well as revealing to the audience the "truth" behind every element of the film. Everything Nicholas saw as triumphant and glorious in being personal physician and political advisor to President Idi Amin turns to a nightmare when Amin's genocide and secret plot for mass slaughtering is revealed in the second act. This act lasts for forty-five to thirty minutes and is in sharp contrast to the pleasant images of act one. Nicholas realizes President Amin will not let him leave the country and his passport is destroyed along with all his personal documentation. Amin orders the Asian minorities of Uganda to be expelled and further atrocities arise. Nicholas in terror, discovers there is no end to Amin's brutality even to the point where Amin orders the mutilation and butchering of one of Amin's own wives, Kay. The second plot point arrives when Nicholas discovers his only hope of escape from this living hell is to assassinate Amin himself.


The final and third act involves Nicholas' decision to try to assassinate Amin via poison. Nicholas plots to give Amin "pills" for a headache but his plans are thwarted in the third plot point when Amin's bodyguards and friends catch on to Nicholas' lie. Nicholas is hung up to be tortured and killed but Dr. Junju, brings the final resolution. In return for saving Nicholas and therefore causing his own death by Amin's men for allowing Nicholas to escape, Dr. Junju asks Nicholas to tell the world the truth about Amin's regime and the genocides occurring in Uganda. This act lasts twenty-five to thirty minutes and results in the Nicholas leaving Uganda on a plane to tell the world what nightmares he has seen and bring help to a bleeding country.